By Alliance San Diego

On Monday, January 18th, Alliance San Diego will host the All Peoples Celebration to honor the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event will bring together people from across San Diego to lift up Dr. King’s vision of a world where all people are treated with dignity and respect, a sentiment increasingly overshadowed by hate and violence in this era.

Dr. King believed all people are created equal and all are part of the human family. This fundamental belief is a core principle of Alliance San Diego and guides our work to mobilize for change so that all people can achieve their full potential in an environment of harmony, safety, equality, and justice. It is also the inspiration for the All Peoples Celebration, which recognizes our shared humanity and our shared responsibility to one another and to the world we live in.  

Although Dr. King is best known for leading a movement for legal equality for African-Americans and other communities of color, the larger lesson of his life is the role we all play every day in creating what he called the Beloved Community. In the Beloved Community, revenge and retaliation give way to redemption and reconciliation. This is not an easy feat. It requires us to act with a form of love known in the Christian Bible as agape, which Dr. King described as goodwill for all, including those we understand or perceive to be our opponents, both within our movements and outside of them.

“Agape does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people…. It begins by loving others for their sakes” and “makes no distinction between a friend and enemy; it is directed toward both…. Agape is love seeking to preserve and create community.”

Dr. King reminded us that our work did not end with the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act in 1964 or the Voting Rights Act in 1965, which were pivotal to prohibiting discrimination and enforcing the right of all citizens to vote. He reminded us that although laws are important to declare our rights, they are not enough. We must breathe life into our rights by exercising them, and we must do so in a manner that preserves and creates the Beloved Community.

In this spirit, the theme of this year’s All Peoples Celebration is “I Am San Diego.” It is a statement of inclusion: we are all an equally valuable part of this Beloved Community. It is also a statement of responsibility: we all have a role to play in ensuring that all people are treated with dignity and respect.  

We are all a part of Dr. King’s legacy and Alliance San Diego invites everyone to join us at the 28th annual All Peoples Celebration to lift up that legacy. The celebration will take place on Monday, January 18th at the Balboa Park Activity Center. The doors open at 9 am to the free Community Space, where people can learn about and connect with social justice organizations working to make San Diego a better place. Community space will remain open during the brunch/program and close at noon.

At 10 am, the ticketed brunch and program will begin and will feature Emmy-award winning investigative journalist John Carlos Frey as our keynote speaker. Mr. Frey is a native of the San Diego / Tijuana region, whose cutting-edge investigative work to expose human rights violations in the border region and the solutions to prevent them is an example of Dr. King’s living legacy. He will be joined in the program by our community speaker, San Diego Community College District Chancellor Constance Carroll, whose work to increase access to higher education also embodies Dr. King’s ideals. The program will also include inspiring performances by local musicians and spoken word artists including two-time San Diego Music award winners, Kendrick Dial & Lyrical Groove.

Tickets are still available for the seated brunch and program but are limited and will NOT be sold at the door. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.alliancesd.org/apc2016.

What: 28th All Peoples Celebration, honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hosted by Alliance San Diego. Includes free Community Space and ticketed Brunch and Program.

When: Monday, January 18th, Community Space open from 9 am to 12 pm. Ticketed program starts at 10 am and ends at 11:30 am.

Where: Balboa Park Activity Center, 2145 Park Blvd, San Diego, 92101.

Tickets for Seated Brunch and Program at 10 am: Tickets are $50 each and available at www.alliancesd.org/apc2016.

Please note that tickets are limited and will NOT be sold at the door. Buy your tickets this week to reserve your seat.