Photo by Lurene Helzer for El Cerrito Journal, 1992. Martin Luther King birthday celebration/rally. These marchers shown were with an area church. When MLK day was first observed, it was as important to devout Christians in the East Bay as it was to political activists. This remained true in 1992. Note man with bible in hand.
Email Lurene in 2014 at lurenexyz@gmail.com
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Published news story by Lurene Helzer, January 23, 1992, El Cerrito Journal, “King celebration revives memories; Moving commentary recalls the spirit of revered civil rights leader”. Photo by Lurene Helzer runs with caption, “About 200 marchers celebrated Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday in El Cerrito Monday”.
I have only part of the story’s text here now, but it will probably turn up elsewhere in my pile of work. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a national U.S. holiday in 1986:
Barbara Cross remembers the day in the early 1960s when she introduced herself to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at an airport terminal. She had heard of him, but had never seen him until that moment.
She asked how he expected people to remain non-violent when facing hate. He answered by taking a small button off his jacket and placing it in her hand. It said, “Grow.”
Cross was one of several speakers who appeared Monday at an assembly in El Cerrito for the celebration of King’s birthday. About 200 participants went from City Hall to the El Cerrito Community Center on foot, in wheelchairs, in strollers and by car. Some came in running shoes and sweats, others came fit for a formal dinner in colorful African patterns.
It was a celebration meant to lift spirits. Musicians from the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts led the parade. People sang and chanted their way through town as bystanders holding babies observed the demonstrators from balconies and doorsteps.
The festivity was sponsored by the El Cerrito Human Relations Commission, St. Peter’s C.M.E. Church in El Cerrito, and the local branch of the NAACP. City Man-...—end of partial clipping—
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