MLK Death, Tucson Tragedy Recalled—But Hope Prevails—at MLK Celebration

PBS's Val Zavala headlined a fun, uplifting celebration on Monday at the 26th annual 2011 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day program. Held at SGI-USA World Culture Center Auditorium, the event was co-sponsored by the City of Santa Monica, Associates and Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA).

The SGI-USA also hosted the across the street following the program, where 30 local nonprofits manned information booths. About 200 to 300 people attended the events.

As the MLK Day program began, Christie Woo-Thibodeaux—an SGI-USA member and one of the program’s 33 planning committee members—said she got involved three years ago after being active in the Obama campaign. 

“We want to remind people [of King’s legacy] and to keep them involved and let them know that the peace movement is still the best way,” she said of the event, as SGI-USA Taiko drummers pummeled beats out of their percussion instruments inside the auditorium.

After the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Choir chanted, “Go tell it to the mountain. Let my people go,” host Nathaniel Trives requested “one moment of silence for our friends in Tucson.” He was referring, of course, to the shooting rampage that occurred nine days prior in the Arizona city.

“One of the great things about Santa Monica is that you’re going to find that every person in this room is a community leader,” Trives said, pointing out local leaders including Congresswoman Julia Brownley, Santa Monica Mayor and City Manager Rod Gould. Former Santa Monica Police Chief and City of Inglewood Mayor elect James T. Butts was also in attendance.

Baritone crooner KB Solomon performed “The House I Live In,” and LaVerne Ross, chair of the scholarship committee, noted that this year marked the 50th anniversary of desegregation.

“Ruby Bridges is a symbol of integration,” Ross said.

David Crippens, former senior vice president of the foundation and education department at KCET, introduced his ersatz colleague. Zavala, vice president of News and Affairs at KCET Los Angeles and an award-winning anchor of local PBS shows, gave an eloquent speech that patched into the topic of the moment: Tuscon, “the events of the past nine days.”

She asked some hard rhetorical questions that may not have clear answers: “Are we Americans innately violent? Do we prefer the rights of gun owners over the rights of a 9-year-old girl? Why are we concerned over whether or not the gunman’s politics were Right or Left?”

From onstage, participants led the audience in renditions of Steve Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” and, of course, the iconic civil-rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.”

Musical instructor Leslie Steinberg of Alternative Intervention Models spoke about the importance of children finding their voice. She reflected about Tupac Shakur, whom she used to mentor.

“He was a young man who was so brilliant that he did not have to die,” Steinberg said of the rapper.

“We on Friday,” Steinberg continued.

Early on, Darlene Evans promised an event that will “feed your heart and your soul and your stomachs.” She wasn’t kidding: Waiting at the subsequent Involvement Fair were macaroni and cheese, meatballs, chicken skewers and cupcakes, courtesy of The Flavor Table, a New Orleans-style restaurant in Leimert Park. Coffee and lemonade was also served.

This story first appeared on Pacific Palisades Patch.