File #: RES-19:072    Version: 1 Name: RENAMING OF HIGHWAY 91/49, KNOWN AS JOHNSON AVENUE, FROM DAN AVENUE THROUGH HILLTOP DRIVE IN HONOR OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Type: Resolution Status: Postponed Indefinitely
File created: 5/30/2019 In control: Public Works Council Committee
On agenda: 9/17/2019 Final action: 9/17/2019
Title: A RESOLUTION FOR THE RENAMING OF HIGHWAY 91/49, KNOWN AS JOHNSON AVENUE, FROM DAN AVENUE THROUGH CRAIGHEAD COUNTY ROAD 702 AT THE CITY LIMITS IN HONOR OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Sponsors: Charles Coleman, David McClain, LJ Bryant
Attachments: 1. RES-05-402.pdf, 2. Petition Opposing Johnson 060419, 3. Proponents for Changing Johnson to MLK.pdf, 4. Emails for renaming Johnson Ave.pdf, 5. emails against renaming Johnson.pdf, 6. Emma Agnew Statement 06182019.pdf, 7. Sandra Combs Statement 06182019.pdf, 8. Shakitha Robinson Statement 06182019.pdf, 9. Lisa Melton Statement 06182019.pdf, 10. Yesenia Hernadez Statement 06182019.pdf, 11. Opposition Petition Johnson-MLK 06182019.pdf, 12. Memo, Coleman to City Council, Sept 17, 2019, Unity Coalition Advisory Committee, Recommendations.pdf
Related files: ORD-19:055, ORD-19:053, COM-19:043, RES-19:095, ORD-19:054

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A RESOLUTION FOR THE RENAMING OF HIGHWAY 91/49, KNOWN AS JOHNSON AVENUE, FROM DAN AVENUE THROUGH CRAIGHEAD COUNTY ROAD 702 AT THE CITY LIMITS IN HONOR OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

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WHEREAS, Resolution (RES-05:402) adopted guidelines for naming public parks, streets and facilities within the City of Jonesboro; And

WHEREAS, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968; And

WHEREAS, King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience tactics, his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi; And

WHEREAS, at the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance; And

WHEREAS, King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal; And

WHEREAS, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was enacted as a federal holiday by legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986; And

WHEREAS, hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED  by the Jonesboro City Council, of Jonesboro, Arkansas, as requested by members of the Craighead County Branch of the NAACP, along with other members of the Jonesboro Community, that Highway 91/49 , known as Johnson Avenue, from Dan Ave. through Craighead County Road 702 at the city limits, be renamed  ”Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue.”

Section 1.                     That Memorial Markers be placed by the State Highway Department at each end; signifying the entering of “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue.”

Section 2.                     That the ”Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue” sign be placed above the current signs for a period of two years, in order to allow businesses and individuals ample time to prepare for the transition.