Bay Area honors King's legacy

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jan 11, 2006 | by ,

OAKLAND -- To celebrate what would have been civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s 77th birthday and honor his legacy, events are scheduled around the Bay in the next week.

Alameda

-From 1 to 3 p.m. Monday, the Alameda Race Violence Task Force will host its annual celebration of King's life with the theme "It's Time to Wake Up" at the Council Chambers, City Hall, 2263 Santa Clara St., third floor.

Revival Center ambassador Everett Robinson will be the keynote speaker, and the event will feature 9-year-old hip-hop and gospel dancer Lil Rich, gospel singer Beaman and other performers. For more information, call (707) 330-7928.

Oakland

-Today, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District will host its annual tribute to King, "Rediscovering Precious Values: Called to Serve," from noon to 1 p.m., 300 Lakeside Drive, second-floor auditorium.

Ronald Dellums, a candidate for Oakland mayor and a former U.S. representative, will speak. There will be live music, and a light lunch will be served. Free admission. Call 464-7139.

-On Monday, the Oakland Black Board of Trade and Commerce will host its sixth annual State of Black Business Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Geoffrey's Planet Soule, 410 14th St., Oakland.

Dellums will speak at the event, co-sponsored by Black Wall Street Merchants Association. Tickets are $100 for nonmembers and $65 for members. Early reservations recommended. Call 706-9005 or visit http://www.blackwallstreet.org. -On Monday, Wisdom University's the Rev. Ron Swisher, Matthew Fox and Jim Garrison will host the eighth annual Martin Luther King National Holiday Celebration "Make the Dream Real" to bring people together around the common focus of service to others.

The free event is from 10 a.m. to noon followed by a luncheon at Taylor Memorial Methodist Church, 1188 12th St. Rabbi Michael Learner will speak. Kokomon Clottey from Ghana, Africa, will present sacred drumming, and Anank Nunink Nunkai from Ecuador will deliver an indigenous purification prayer. Famia Davis will discuss restorative justice. There will be youth performers, and Martin Luther King Jr. Awards will be given to four community members for exemplary service. Call 652-5530, 706-8671 or visit http://www.ahc- oakland.org, http://www.cca.edu/center or http:// www.wisdomuniversity.org.

-"Embracing the Dream," sponsored in part by the Alameda County Office of AIDS, will host a "Help Achieve the Dream in the Hood" event from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday at Love Center Church, 10440 International Blvd. The event includes a workshop for criminal records dismissal at 11:30 a.m. Health, pharmaceutical, social service provider and nonprofit vendor booths will be open from 1:30 to 6 p.m. Call 548-4040, ext. 390.

-From 2 to 4 p.m. Monday, Oakland's Office of Parks and Recreation and Department of Human Services will host a spirited and inspirational musical, spoken-word and dance performance by members of the community at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St. Free.

Jeff Stetson's "The Meeting," a two-hour live stage production depicting a fictitious meeting between King and Malcolm X, follows at 5 p.m. The Bay Area Repertory Theatre is co-presenting the event with the city, $5 donations suggested. Call 839-9192.

-From 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, the East Bay Regional Parks District invites volunteers to "A Day On, Not a Day Off" shoreline cleanup to remove non-native plants and plant native ones. The event is at Arrowhead Marsh, Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline at Doolittle Drive and Swan Way. Free admission. Call 562-1373 or visit http:// www.ebparks.org.

-From 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Oakland's Public Works Agency and other partners will also host a "A Day On, Not a Day Off" tree planting and community cleanup project at Poplar Park Recreation Center, 3131 Union St. Registration and light refreshments at 8:30 a.m.

Free library events

-At 3 p.m. next Wednesday, the Eastmont Branch Library, 7200 Bancroft Ave. at the Eastmont Town Center, will host an American History and Culture by Grandmothers Who Help event with photographs and exhibits from pre-Columbus days to the present.

-From 2:30 to 4 p.m. Jan. 21, listen to "I Have Been to the Mountaintop," King's last speech before his assassination, and discuss it with Demetrius Goins, Lakeview Branch library, 550 El Embarcadero, call 238-7344.

-At 10 a.m. Jan. 21, a two-hour guided "New Era, New Politics Walking Tour" will start at the African American Museum and Library, 659 14th St., highlighting historic points of interest in African American history in downtown Oakland and recounting King's visits to Oakland. Call 238-3234.

-At 7 p.m. Jan. 26, the YMCA of the East Bay will host the 2006 YMCA Martin Luther King Jr. Great Community Banquet with a program of music and spiritual reflection with dinner and an awards' ceremony. Keynote speaker is Angela Oh, a civil rights' attorney and inspirational speaker, 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Rotunda Building. Admission $150 per person. Call 451-8039, ext. 777 or visit http:// www.ymcaeastbay.org.