An Extraordinary King Day

By Gene Williams
Staff Writer

January 17 -- As usual, Santa Monica marked Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday with a large inter-faith celebration. But this year’s observance honoring the slain civil rights leader was out of the ordinary.

Perhaps it was the appearance of King’s eldest daughter as the event’s keynote speaker, or perhaps it was the scheduled dedication of the new Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium at the recently-opened Main Library. Perhaps it was both.

But shortly after the program kicked off at 9 a.m. Monday, a diverse crowd of some 1,000 had overflowed the Soka Gakai (Buddhist) Auditorium at 6th Street and Wilshire Boulevard, a first-time venue for the yearly event.

A large crowd marched to the new library. (Photos by Gene Williams)

Inside, choirs from John Adams Middle school and members of the Bahai Faith sang spirituals, and clergy of different beliefs joined together to lead the packed house in a responsive liturgy drawn largely from King’s own words.

But it was Yolanda King who made the deepest impression, using her skills as an actress and motivational speaker to personify her father’s dream, a presentation which Nat Trives – the only African-American to serve as mayor of the city – called “awesome.”

“What makes our lives unique is the choices we make,” King said, introducing a theme she would hammer home over the next 30 minutes.

“We can choose to bury our heads in the sand, or we can choose to get up off our apathy,” she said. “We can choose to believe in a different world, a better kind of world.”

“In the 1950s and 1960s African-American men and women made some choices that were sometimes some dangerous ones,” she said.

After speaking at the interfaith service, Yolanda King helped dedicate the library auditorium named for her father.

But the civil rights movement didn’t only advance the rights of black people, she added. “Many white people were freed from the shackles of bigotry that held back their humanity,” she said.

Still, King said, there is much work to be done.

“We as a country have not reached the Promised Land,” she said, pointing to an ever-widening gap between “the haves and have nots.

“For those who didn’t know it before, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has laid it open for all to see.”

After the service, the crowd walked down 6th Street to the library a block away in a colorful parade led by a minister swinging a large censer of burning frankincense.

A half dozen dancers in flowing white costumes were followed by several African drummers, whose syncopated beats mixed with the Salvation Army brass band marching behind them. Others held banners and large photographs of Dr. King.

A crowd of some 1,000 overflowed the Soka Gakai (Buddhist) Auditorium.

Surrounded by a bevy of City officials, past and present, Mayor Bob Holbrook said it was fitting that the new library’s auditorium be dedicated to King.

“Dr. King believed in the accumulation of knowledge and the availability of places for the community to gather,” Holbrook said. “Today we are dedicating such a place.”

Monday’s festivities marked the 21st annual King Day celebration in Santa Monica organized by the Martin Luther King Westside Coalition. Sponsors include the City of Santa Monica and Santa Monica College Associates.

Yolanda King is an actress with television and film credits that include portrayals of Rosa Parks in the NBC-TV movie “King” and Medgar Evars’ daughter in the film “Ghosts of Mississippi.”

She is also the founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization dedicated to positive social change, and co-author of two books: “Open My Eyes, Open My Soul,” and “Embracing Your Power in 30 Days.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. He would have been 77 on January 15.