If you were involved with Sacramento's early Martin Luther King Jr. march and celebration history, we would like you to tell us what you remember about the early days of Sacramento's MLK March and Celebration.
MLK365 Staff
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History and Background:
ReplyDeleteIn 1983 the Sacramento Human Rights & Fair Housing Commission brought together several disconnected Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) events. This collaboration formed into what is now called the MLK Celebration. It would include such activities as multi-cultural, health and job fairs, oratorical contest, children activities and entertainment. There was also an ecumenical service, a gospel choir, theater plays and a march.
In 1985 the Martin Luther King Jr. Expo & Fair (MLK Job Fair), with the expressed permission of the King family to use Dr. King’s name, incorporated as its own non-profit organization (68-0160203)
During the administration of Mayor Ann Rudin and through the advocacy of Council member Samuel Pannell, the MLK celebration was held free of charge at the Sacramento Convention Center as well as other locations. With the dissolution of the MLK coalition, the MLK Job Fair committee has remained to assume the full weight of maintaining this tradition. Since 2002, the MLK Expo & Job Fair has continued at a much smaller venue (Florin Mall Shopping Center).
The 22-year tradition has achieved many milestones including having more than 100, 000 people come through their doors, bringing the Fisk Jubliee Singers and hosting a dinner honoring Coretta Scott King.
I came to the march in 1988 at the request of my boss at National Education Center. He had heard of it and suggested I go and help by representing the Center. Deotha Chapman was running the show when I arrived at the meeting at the Oak Park Community Center. She scared me to death because she reminded me of an Army First Sergeant the way she dispensed tasks and projects. I was assigned to work on March liaison, whatever that was. I assisted in blowing up balloons and at the last minute was told it was my job to be in charge of the actual march and insure everyone got from the Oak Park Community Center to the Convention Center in one piece.
ReplyDeleteThe march in those days started at 7:00AM and the number of marchers leaving Oak Park was small enough that I could run from front to back covering the whole march by myself. Not today. Today we will have several hundred to a thousand people leaving Oak Park alone. We now have high school bands participating, beauty queens, mounted police elements, a float and 12 to 15 thousand people coming in from two locations, one south and one north. More groups are calling to participate then ever before. Most importantly we have a formal organization structured to coordinate all of the ongoing efforts.
The march has gone through many entities since 1988. First there was City College then the Urban League and now the organization stands on its own merits. Though these organizations remain partners in our success they no longer have to share the burden of all the coordination of the past.