Hogan: ‘Dr. King Would Be Awful Proud’ of Racial Progress in State House
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) told the crowd gathered at an event honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that the slain civil rights leader would appreciate the state’s diverse leadership.
“I can tell you as I look around this crowd here tonight,” Hogan said Monday night, “Dr. King would be awful proud at how far we’ve come, with all of these great African-American leaders that we have here in Annapolis doing such a good job representing their constituents.”
Hogan, House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), Legislative Black Caucus Chairwoman Cheryl D. Glenn (D-Baltimore City) and others gathered to lay a wreath at the tree planted in King’s honor on the grounds of the State House.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) noted that the tree, once a sapling, “is now almost as tall as the State House.”
Former state Sen. Larry Young (D-Baltimore City), who urged then-Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources Torrey Brown to plant the tree, said Maryland is the only state in the union to have a tree honoring King on the grounds of its Capitol.
“It’s marvelous,” he said after the event.