Pasadena Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Pasadena Star-News

January 17, 2012

Jacqueline Jacobs remembers walking instead of taking the bus in Montgomery, Ala., during the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955.


She remembers sitting in her Montgomery church and listening to sermons from the new young minister, Martin Luther King Jr.


She remembers working with the King Center in Atlanta, Ga., 25 years ago and walking door to door in Pasadena neighborhoods to get King's birthday recognized as a national holiday.


And for the past 20 years, Jacobs has brought those memories to the Pasadena community, leading the Pasadena MLK Community Coalition in its annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.


"We worked so hard to make this a holiday and we believed in all of the things (King) put forth, so we don't want to see it die with him," said Jacobs, Pasadena MLK Community Coalition president and recently retired Vice President of Pasadena City College.


This year's celebration, a year in the making, took place Monday morning at the Robinson Park Center in Pasadena. The event, which attracted about 500 people, included a number of speakers, musical performances from local youth choirs and award presentations for the art and essay contest winners.


Among the performers were the Can-Do Kids Gospel Choir from the Pasadena Neighborhood Urban Family Center, the community-based Selah Gospel Choir, PUSD's Martin Luther King Jr. Choir and Folklorico dancers from Madison Elementary School.


The featured speaker was Pastor Pat O'Reilly, executive director of the Ecumenical Council of Pasadena.


Though the main event was on Monday, the coalition hosted three prior events to kick off the celebration, starting with "Rekindling the Light of Peace," a commemoration of King's life at City Hall on Jan. 7. On Jan. 14 the group held a "Day on, not off" community service day to beautify the Madison Elementary School campus in Pasadena.


Among the 500 people who attended Monday's event were State Senator Carol Liu, D-Los Angeles, Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena. For the full article, click here.