There are three, count ‘em three, marches scheduled for the long weekend commemorating Martin Luther King Day. And the 27th All People’s Celebration, which is more of a sit down affair.
Festivities kicked off Friday morning, with the 30th annual YMCA of San Diego County Martin Luther King Human Dignity Award Breakfast. This year’s honoree is Constance M. Carroll, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District. There’s a rather nice tribute to her in Friday’s UT-San Diego, detailing her dedication to education and a surprisingly wide range of outside interests.
On Saturday, the San Diego Police Department and the Urban Corps are sponsoring a “Coming Together for Change” parade starting at noon. It starts at 25th and Imperial, marching to 28th and Imperial and then turning around and marching back to the starting point. I guess all this running around in circles will get residents prepared for what they’ll have to face if they ever decide to complain about a bad experience with the SDPD.
On Sunday, the Zeta Sigma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the oldest African American fraternity in America sponsors the “official” Martin Luther King Day march.
The 35th Annual parade is one of the largest celebrations of its kind in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the US. Expect to see “dazzling floats, soulful High School Bands, Drill Teams, Colleges, Fraternities, Churches, Organizations, Peace and Youth groups.”
Starting at 2pm people will be gathering along Harbor Drive near Grape street. The parade will proceed south on Harbor, ending up at Pacific Highway near G Street.
On Monday, January 19th, Alliance San Diego presents the 27th annual All Peoples Celebration honoring the living legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and commemorating the 50th anniversary of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Keynote speaker, Ryan Haygood from the national NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, who will address the modern-day struggles over voting.
The program will include local award-winning performers:
- National Poetry Slam artist Ant Black with special guest Shivon Carreno;
- Two-time San Diego Music Award winning band Kendrick Dial & The Lyrical Groove with special guestOcean;
- SDMA’s Best Live Performer and Best Blues Album nominee Whitney Shay with special guest Beston Barnett; and
- Grace Covenant Church Choir
Painter Elida Chavez will lead a community art project at the event. This project invites attendees to express their creative voices with a collaborative work of visual art that speaks to living out the legacy of Dr. King. The completed project will be donated for display in community spaces throughout San Diego.
The event is set for the Balboa Park Activity Center, starting at 9am, and includes breakfast. Tickets ($50) are on sale through today (Friday).
Later on Monday, a coalition of activist groups are leading the local version of the 4 Mile March, which is set for cities throughout North America.
While the 4 Mile Marches are all organized as peaceful protests, they will have a more militant tone than some of the other activities, reflecting the national movement against injustice.
The local 4 Mile March will start at 1pm with a rally at 1pm at the City Heights/Weingart Library and Performance Annex (3795 Fairmount Ave, San Diego, California 92105) and ending at Malcolm X Library (5148 Market Street, San Diego, CA 92114)
Here’s the basic rundown issued by local organizers:
About San Diego’s #4MILEMARCH
Activists and community members in San Diego have answered the national call put out by the Coalition Against Police Violence (CAPV). The mission of the 4 Mile March is two-fold: to bring awareness to America’s epidemic of racial profiling and police brutality, and to honor all those who have been injured or died as a result of police violence. One of the most important steps we can take is to build mounting pressure upon our local and federal government to do what is right. Elected officials must mandate laws that will hold police accountable for every illegal and inhumane act they commit against the human rights of Black citizens, the mentally ill and those of lower socio economic status. We will march because “it is our duty to fight for our freedom; it is our duty to win.”
Doug Porter
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Friends:
There is at least one other MLK celebration in San Diego, and this one has been held for 41 years on January 15th on Dr. King’s actual birthday–so you missed it.
It is organized by Bishop Ikenna Anyanwu Kokayi (formerly known as the Rev. Robert Ard) at Christ Church of San Diego and focuses on remembering “the REAL Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Yes, it’s at a church, but the attendees love and respect the founder of the event and represent a wide spectrum of faith communities.
Please add this event to your list.
Rev. Richard Lawrence
Christian Fellowship Congregational Church (UCC)
A note from the 2015 MLK program:
“Christ Church of San Diego proclaimed January 15, the birthday of Dr. King, a holiday in 1974…
and conducted a commemorative service annually since that time. It is the oldest continuing commemoration of Dr. King’s birthday in the State of California and among the oldest in the nation. It is counter to the corporatizing of Dr. King’s image and the continuing efforts to smooth off the edges of his bracing challenges to racism, war and free-market exploitation. It is more than the feel-good celebration of “a dream” that the holiday has become and is not a fundraiser. [In fact, in some years a free lunch has been offered–but not this year.] It is not corporate sponsored or sanctioned, but it is a fitting reminder of the Life, Lessons and Legacy of Dr. King; and remembers whose who names are inscribed on the Civil Rights Monument representing countless others whose lives were sacrificed in the struggle for civil and human rights.”
Despite disappointing turnout, 100 San Diegans marched 4 miles for social justice today.
Hey, where’s my $50 ticket?
Remember to connect what’s happening at a national level is also happening in San Diego, The same issues that were exposed in Ferguson are in San Diego. The system of power, White Supremacy, is well and alive in San Diego, hurting marginalized communities. Let’s make sure we seek justice for them. Let’s end the occupation of our communities by Police.
:http://uaptsd.org/victims/victims-murdered-by-sd-law-enforcement/