Friend, I’m on the road to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in a number of communities across our commonwealth, and I wanted to take a moment to reach out and reflect on Dr. King’s legacy right here in Kentucky.

Dr. King was the ultimate servant leader. His courage, his integrity, and his unflinching commitment to justice (often at profound personal cost) continue to be a beacon for me. I’m especially humbled by his legacy here in Kentucky, from his presence at student sit-ins of the early 1960s to his leadership of the 1964 March on Frankfort.

Two years later, with the passage of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act—which Dr. King called “the strongest and most comprehensive civil rights bill passed in a southern state”—we became the first state in the South to outlaw segregation and declare the right of all our citizens to freely access all business and public places. While the struggle for equality continues in our commonwealth and across our nation, I’m grateful for the progress made thanks to leaders like Dr. King, who put their safety and well-being on the line time and again to build a more just society.

Dr. King’s courage inspires me to continue fighting for a Kentucky, and a nation, where every citizen is accorded an equal right to vote, to access affordable health care, to receive an excellent education, and to be treated with dignity and respect.

These values are the heart of what this campaign is all about—I’m so thankful you’re with me in this fight.

With gratitude,
Amy