 We shall overcome, we shall overcome. I'm Mayor Gloria Partida and it is my honor to introduce this tribute video to Dr. Martin Luther King. This video contains local voices as well as compilations from our previous year's celebrations. This celebration is hosted by the City of Davis's Human Relations Commission, whose mission it is to promote mutual respect, understanding, and acceptance amongst all people. It also works to eliminate discrimination and hatred by giving a voice to the voiceless and doing outreach, education, and making recommendations to the City Council on ways to improve equity for all. As we continue to shelter in place, I am so pleased that our city has been able to find ways to honor our most important celebrations. This will be the 27th year that our city celebrates Martin Luther King's legacy. Every year we acknowledge that Dr. King's work is not finished. Every year we encourage everyone to continue his work by uncovering and addressing injustice in our society. This year, the Black Lives Matter movement broke the mainstream barrier, as did Dr. King's movement in the early 60s. It has become evident that Dr. King's call to justice was really a call for our nation to live up to its promise of justice for everyone. I encourage us all to find ways today and every day to further Dr. King's dream. As always, we are so grateful to Davis Media Access for being partners in this presentation. Please now join me in welcoming the City of Davis poet laureate, Joan James Lee Job. James Lee Job is the fourth poet laureate of Davis, California. He hosts two ongoing poetry series in Davis and teaches a poetry workshop. Among his five chapbooks are what God said when she finally answered me from Rattlesnake Press. Job's poems have been published in magazines, journals, and anthologies across several decades, and he's on the board of directors of a homeless shelter here in Davis. Thank you. Thank you very much. To live in Davis is to live in a very diverse community, and that's one of the biggest blessings of it. Thank you all for coming out today. This poem is an original poem I wrote just for this occasion for Dr. King. It's called Keeping the Faith, and it begins with a quote from Dr. King that I like a lot. Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. You need to keep going. When injustice covers the land like a dust storm, we must keep the faith, for the air will clear again one day. When the leaders rule with lies and fear, we must keep the faith, for the truth will come out. We were weary from our labor, but we must keep the faith and not compromise our beliefs only in such a compromise is our faith in danger. Say strong at heart, keep the faith. Those who separate us by the color of our skin will yet fail. Those who separate us by whom we love will yet fail. Those who lock a child in a cage may seem strong, but they're weak. Stay strong at heart, keep the faith. Those who would rape the planet for a few dollars will die without the peace that money cannot buy. Those who would keep us an endless war for profit will die without a ticket into heaven. Stay strong at heart, keep the faith. There is a long way to go, but we've gone too far to turn back. Keep the faith. Those who rule now later will fall, keep the faith. Free the jailed, feed the hungry, keep the faith. Level the field of challenge, the field of privilege, keep the faith. The cruel have not won, the end is not in sight. Keep the faith. Stay strong. The power of honesty is with us, keep the faith. The power of the righteous is with us, keep the faith. Do not falter, because there are still miles to walk. Do not falter because those who hate have again awakened. Keep the faith. Stay strong. As long as even one person is left behind, keep the faith. As long as even one person suffers for being different, keep the faith. We must keep the faith. We must stay strong. For as long as even one person is less than, equality does not yet exist. Keep the faith. Stay strong. Keep the faith. Thank you. And Luther King had a dream that black boys and black girls and white boys and white girls would walk together holding hands. Because of him, I have a reality. His dream is my reality. But we still have a long way to go. Just a few days ago, people were storming into the capital because they were mad about how the elections went. So I now have a dream that the police will all treat everybody all the same. Because black boys like me shot from just wearing a hoodie or trying to go to the market to buy some snacks. I have a dream that we will all be treated the same in the law. All right, next up we're going to have a performer, a local performer, James Williams, an event producer, has lived in Davis for 10 years and is returning to the Varsity Sage to sing and tribute to Dr. King, accompanied by a well-known string musician, Ron Goldberg. They will present two songs of unity and action, if I had a hammer and get together. James Williams and Ron Goldberg. Good morning, baby. And good morning friends and honored guests. I'm going to try to not pop this mic. It's my honor to be here today to commemorate the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I sincerely believe in the visualization as a tool for change. All that humans have created has come to us through someone's moment of clarity. The enduring message from Dr. King's iconic I Have a Dream speech is his envisioning a day when the concept of race no longer separates nor defines. This I feel is a call to action, to first expand one's mind beyond what is to what can be and then to keep our eyes on the prize and to never be dissuaded from that vision. Each of us has a voice and a tool to this purpose. We need but have the courage to start from where we are and use what we have to bring to life all that Dr. King strived for, equality, freedom, and justice. I'd hammer out danger, I'd hammer out warning, I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land for my sisters and my brothers. And I got a song, the bell of freedom. It's for sisters and our brothers, home for sisters and our... I think we all of voting age have a golden ticket and it is our ballot so I hope in this year's election we will all be out to support the candidate of our choice. For me the candidate of my choice is whoever shows the most love to the most people. And that's what we need right now. So we are super excited about our next group up here. I'd like to introduce the children of the parents of African American children of Davis. PAACD is a social group that brings together parents, caregivers, and kids for friendship, support, and fun. They welcome working and at home parents and caregivers to join to build lasting friendships, create a supportive community, grow together with our children, and celebrate our African American culture and heritage. Families from all neighboring communities are welcome. Today the children will read, I have a dream. Well we'll go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom and the history of our nation. Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree became as a great beacon of a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in flames of withering injustice. It came a joyous day break to end the long night of their captivity. But 100 years later the Negro is still not free. 100 years later the life of the Negro was still sadly crippled by the manacules of segregation and the chains of discrimination. 100 years later the life of the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of the vast ocean of material prosperity. 100 years later the life of the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. Here today to dramatize a shameful condition in a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall here. This note was the promise that all men, yes black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalliable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It's obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note and so far as our citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring the sacred obligation America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds. But we refuse to believe that the Bank of Justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation and so we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon the demand of riches, of freedom and the security of justice. We have also, we have also come to this how, we have also come to this how it's brought to remind America of the fears, urgency of now. This is no time to engage the luxury of calling off or taking the, the trend cruising drug of terrorism. Now is the time to make real promises of decimators. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate from this valley of segregation of to the silent path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice in reality for all of God's will. It'd be facile for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This swarming time, soldiering summer is Negro's lignite discount, discount, discount 10. It will not pass until there's an, an irrigation autumn of freedom and equal. 1963 is not an end but a beginning and those who hope that the Negro needed to blossom will now be content. We'll have a real awakening of the nation returns to men as usual. There'll be neither rest or tranquil in America until the Negro granted his citizenship, citizenship rights. The one world's overbelt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warring threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of our wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plains of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to majestic heights of leading physical force through soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distress of all white people. For many of our white brothers as evidenced by their presence here today have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone and as we walk we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. Are those who are asking the devotees of civil right, when will you be satisfied? We will never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies heavy with the fightage of tribal cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are striped of their selfhood and rob of their dignity by sign stating for white only. For what's only? We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and the Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. I'm thankful that some of you have come here of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the fate that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern city knowing that this somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. Today my friends so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted within the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men, women and children are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the Red Hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even in the state of Mississippi a state sweltering with the heat of injustice sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream today. I have a dream today. In Alabama with its vicious racist with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification one day right down there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and little white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today that one day every valley shall be exalted and every hailing mansion shall be made low through our place will be planned and the quicker pace will be made straight and the glory of the lord shall be relieved and all flesh shall see together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the south with. With this faith we will be able to hear out of the mention of this spirit a sound of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jingle of the school to our nation to a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together to pray together to struggle together to go to jail together just to stand up for freedom to go in knowing that we'll be free one day and this will be the day and this will be the day and this will be the day this will be the day when all of our children will be able to sing with new meaning my countrytists three land of liberty they all sing then my father led them the pilgrims spread from every mountainside let freedom ring and if America's a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California but not only that let freedom ring from the stone mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from the lookout mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside let freedom ring and when this happens and when we allow freedom to ring when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet from every state and every city we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children black men and white men Jews and Gentiles Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the Old Negro spiritual. About one Luther King junior is that he did he didn't do violence and that he spoke up for people and that he cared about homeless people and that he he cared about everyone not just blacks but whites too. I think of Reverend Dr. King by him being nice to people and walking over the summer bridge even though that people would usually attack him and also I think that he was peaceful not fine I also think that he was nice to the people surrounding him even at whites not hurting people and not killing them but being nice today. We're in for a special treat as we listen to the captivating voice of Ms. Natalie Minya. Ms. Minya is a motivational speaker and entrepreneur a designer a singer this goes on today she'll sing for us. Ms. Minya strongly believes that everyone is here for a purpose they should find and can find their potential in service to others. The spiritual I'm about to sing today the lyrics of it was written by John Newton a famous in the in the at the time slave owner and history has it that he was inspired to write these lyrics when his ship which was transporting slaves from Africa was about to capsize and he he was inspired to sing these words. The fascinating thing is that the books say lyrics John Newton melody unknown and many theorists believe that he heard the sound in the melodies from the slaves down below singing as they also were in fear of their lives. I find this very interesting this theory because it's a person born in Zimbabwe Africa I know when times are tough all we can do is sing those chants or those hymns that bring us closer. I can imagine during that time they probably sang something like many other funeral songs but however whatever the theory might be we may never know. I find that this song that is sung all over the world a song written by a slave owner something that was meant to divide the world has come to unite us as a people. The song is sung all around the world primarily by African Americans Africans Europeans you name it people of all tribes and colors and if there's anything I can think of dedicating to a person who stood for unity for the world a world hero is Martin Luther King. That's it. Feel free to join me the last one. Miss Shelley is the Public Affairs Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center in this role she uses her skills and strengths as a communicator to put the center's messages of tolerance and their fight against bigotry to work. Her career is long and impressive you can read about several of her past efforts in the program she has traveled the country to share a message of acceptance tolerance and equality and today we are so very fortunate to have her travel to us here in Davis. Please join me in a hearty welcome to to Miss Dana Vickers Shelley. Good morning and most importantly Happy Martin Luther King Junior Day. I really appreciate this invitation and the opportunity to talk with you about a lot of the issues that we've begun today. One of the things I think in talking about Dr. King and thinking of education as the civil rights issue of our time is a challenge I would put forward that in addition to thinking of how individuals can change what they do to improve educational outcomes and opportunities for themselves and their families but to also think about and I'll talk about this a little bit this morning the systemic issues that affect kids of color communities of color and disinvested communities because many of the things that we have talked about today that the young students have shared with us that the future presidents ambassadors and secretaries of state have shared with us today are that are that it's up to an individual to make a contribution in her or his life but we also have to address again those institutional and those structural barriers to those individual success and opportunities the work that this community has done and that many communities are doing focusing on eliminating hate and discrimination is so important as we mark the holiday in honor of Dr. King and I think this morning there were over 179 million Google hits on Martin Luther King Junior Day 2014 would it surprise you to know that schools in the United States are more segregated today than they have been in four decades according to a recent study from the civil rights project of UCLA millions of non-white students are locked into what's called dropout factory high schools where huge percentages of them don't graduate and fewer well-prepared for their future in the U.S. economy American schools are 44% non-white as minorities rapidly emerge as the majority of public school students in the U.S. in Latino and African-American populations two of every five students attend intensely segregated schools for Latinos is increase in segregation reflects growing residential segregation for blacks a significant part of the reversal reflects the ending of the segregation plans in public schools throughout the nation way back when when Brown v. Board of Education the Supreme Court concluded that the southern standard of separate but equal was inherently unequal and did irreversible harm to black students it later extended that ruling to Latinos in this context again our conversation about education particularly access to quality education as it pertains to public schools and later access to college is an important civil rights issue past just 10 years after Brown v. Board the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race color or national origin in programs or activities related to and that includes federal funding this includes housing transportation and of course education and over the next year you'll be hearing a lot about the markers of the civil rights movement because we're in 19 and in 2014 marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act the 50th anniversary of the summer of freedom the 50th anniversary of Dr. King earning the Nobel Prize a core belief of our democracy is the notion that it is right and fair that all children regardless of skin color should have the opportunity for an education the opportunities for education that I've been fortunate to to receive come as a result both of that history as well as my personal family history where born the daughter of a high school English teacher and an elementary school librarian I had no choice but to think of education is something important and essential to my success one of Dr. King's first comments on education written many years ago when he was a student at Morehouse University in Atlanta quote it seems to me that education has a twofold function to perform in the life of man and in society remember it was 1948 the one is utility and the other is culture education must enable a man to become more efficient to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life as Dr. King and others fought for civil rights and providing access to everyone regardless of what you look like where you come from or what you believe the Pew Research Center which many of you may be familiar with recently reported that fewer than half 45 percent of American surveyed last year said they believe the United States has made substantial progress toward racial equality since 1963 when Dr. King delivered his I have a dream speech how disconcerting is that roughly half of Americans 49 percent said a lot more needs to be done to achieve racial equality so we all have our work cut out for us broken down by race a higher share of blacks 79 percent than Hispanics 48 percent and whites 44 percent felt that way we've definitely made progress and yet so many young people don't enjoy the same basic rights as safety from violence when so many children lack the educational opportunities there they deserve there's a lot for all of us to do the civil rights movement that desegregated American schools may have happened several decades ago but some say segregation and discrimination have slowly resurfaced over the years in a new form segregation based on race and income and again our panelists and the students research point in that direction as well at the southern poverty law center we were really heartened and pleased by the obama administration's announcement a couple of weeks ago about the new guidelines that aim to stop what is called the schools to prison pipeline or push out of children primarily black and brown children primarily black and brown boys from the classroom this schools to prison pipeline ruins the lives of thousands of children who basically do little more than act like kids in school the reality is that in the deep south at least these policies carry the terrible legacy of jim crow while education was forbidden under slavery slaves risk life and limb to educate themselves that's a part of american history slaves who were discovered to have learned to have learned to read were abused were beaten desegregation and elementary schools high schools was one of the core components of the civil rights movement and our focus on education was a primary focus of reconstruction efforts that happened right after the civil war so this quest for quality fair education access to educational opportunities has been something that many people have tried to keep the african-american community african-american students and children away from for hundreds of years during reconstruction more than three thousand freedmen schools were created across the country and the first colleges now considered historically black colleges and universities howard university in washington dc fist university in tennessee and hampton in virginia are all examples of this the end of reconstruction saw the gradual unraveling of education for african-american children in the south culminating in 1897's decision on plus tv ferguson which said suffered by equal was great the doctrine further institutionalized inequality and the racial divide of the united states paving the way for more dismantling of schools cutting off resources and more violence and today we still see that cutting off of resources to schools that are predominantly serving black and latino children with the brownby board decision the court recognized that with young people race-based segregation quote generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone race-based segregation generates a feeling of inferiority in young people's status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone how can we treat our future leaders in this manner today their efforts across the country trying to repeal brownby board in the south and in other parts of the country legislatures are looking at opportunities to move resources out of public schools all of the evidence shows that african-american and latino children are far more likely than white kids to face suspension expulsion and even jail for misconduct that holds true also for children with disabilities many of these disadvantaged children who need to be in the classroom instead are being funneled into juvenile detention and worse adult jails where many are exposed to brutality making them more likely to drop out of school evidence and studies show us that the more times a child is suspended from school the more likely here she is to decide you know what you don't want me in school i'll drop out that's not a way to help our country succeed that's definitely not a way to help children and families succeed they are children like our client in escambia county florida an african-american student from a poor household who attended a magnet school he went to the wrong lunch room one morning for the free breakfast that's offered to all the children black and white in that school that was arrested for trespassing and then suspended from school for eating breakfast in the wrong lunch room or our 14-year-old client in meridian mississippi who was removed from school and spent several days in a juvenile detention facility because he protected himself from a bully as his teacher had told him to do with zero tolerance policies a child can no longer put their hand on someone who might be trying to hit them because that's considered that's considered physical contact and violence they're like the high school student in mobile alabama who was suspended for 50 days because his his shirt was untucked again uniform policies policies related to uniform and attire mean that you have to be dressed a certain way in fact this particular student was one of just one in this instance but earlier this year a principal in the high school in mobile alabama suspended 97 children on the same day all for uniform violations and they are like the 11-year-old at a middle school in highlands ranch colorado lest you think that all these issues are happening in the deep south who took a lollipop from a jar on a teacher's desk and was charged with theft the boy was convicted of a misdemeanor and put on probation it would be funny if it were not all true and so sad for what this means for again america's future and our children there are countless other examples across america and i would dare say in the state of california and other places that you may be familiar with the vast majority of children thrown out of or arrested in school have done nothing to deserve such treatment many times they have not even committed crimes but rather violations of school policies and fractions that should be handled in the classroom not in the police station we can and must do better for our children dr king would expect no less of us at the southern poverty law center we're part of a national movement to stop these practices and institute new models of school discipline to keep children in the classroom out of streets and in jail and out of jail the administration's plan to address the school discipline guidelines is an important step a giant step in the right direction i hope that the department of education will make this a priority and follow through with its commitment this terrible pipeline isn't the only example of how children's civil rights for education are in peril school choice systems such as the voucher program championed by louisiana governor bobby gendall have seen their fair share of support and criticism in august the justice department attempted to block a portion of the louisiana program claiming that the vouchers issued in some of the jurisdictions impeded the desegregation process for districts that are still under federal desegregation laws still under federal desegregation laws 50 plus years after brown v board the growth of school privatization charter schools and efforts now that limit or deny access to education for children of immigrants or children who are immigrants themselves all fly in the face of the civil rights act of 1964 violating certainly the spirit if not the letter of the law law the right to equal educational opportunities has been at the forefront of the civil rights struggle in the united states and remain so today so what would martin luther king jr. do i believe he would organize and ask others to join him in doing so he wouldn't sit by and watch as these structural issues and policies affect the lives of so many and again it's not simply the children of color the communities of color who are affected by this but all of us all communities are affected when people who could become contributing members of our society instead of being educated and learning and growing to be successful are pulled out of society and into the justice system i believe dr king would build coalitions of parents teachers administrators school board members and members of the community who support their public schools i believe he would look to communities like davis california to the southern poverty law center and to organizations like the dream defenders an amazing organization of black and brown young adults who formed their group in florida but are working all across the country to make a difference to demand fairness and equal opportunity i believe that dr king would demand true education for all children with all of us i believe he would build a political movement so united and so clear in its purpose that every state capital and even in washington dc would be heard in dr king's nobel prize acceptance speech in oslo again just 50 years ago dr king said this i have the audacity to believe that people's everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies education and culture for their minds and dignity equality and freedom for their spirits i believe that and i hope you do too thank you martin luther king jr we remember mlk honored on this special day he had a dream that we would stand united together in this land that we would strive to find a way to live his friends in peace today he wanted each of us to see the beauty of equality he taught the right overcomes wrong that hope can turn the week to strong and showing love instead of hate when made our country truly great his message meant to set us free was filled with hope for you and me so on this day let freedom ring as we remember love the king the king is thanks to his dream we get a first black lady vice president i know it's wow mind blowing but i'm not really sure if it was his dream but either way thanks to his dream we get to experience the first black lady vice president and you know i think maybe i'll become a first black lady president hey that would be bad because i'm only eight i would hope someone would do it before me but see you when i'm president bye thank you in advance to the freedom singers and thanks to each of you joining us today to celebrate diversity let us all work together to end discrimination in all its forms and to live the legacy that dark the king left us yellow freedom singers we shall overcome and together we shall live in peace we shall overcome someday