On Monday, January 20, 2014 at 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at Robinson Park, the Martin Luther King Community Coalition, Pasadena Unified School District, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, and Aspires West of Pasadena in conjunction with the city of Pasadena, National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc., Gamma Lambda chapter presents the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday breakfast and celebration.  Families, friends, community members, local and state political leaders will be in attendance as student winners are announced and presented with awards for their participation in the MLK Community Coalition Essay and Art Contest.

The day is filled with music, speakers, dancers, food, and more.  See the agenda below for an overview of the day:

• 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m.:  “Freedom March” Documentary and Breakfast
• 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.:  King Holiday Celebration and Program
• 12:30 p.m.:  Lunch

Robinson Park is located at 1081 North Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, California.  Send an email to [email protected] for more information.

For over 10 years now, on the Saturday before the official MLK Day of Service, it is our tradition to provide a local school with volunteers to provide landscaping and campus beautification services.  Students and their families, along with members from the surrounding communities all come out to work together toward a common cause.  This year is no different.  On Saturday, January 18, 2014 from 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., we will plant flowers and do several maintenance tasks at Franklin Elementary School located at 527 W. Ventura Street in Altadena, California.

Senior pastor Billie Keller from New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church will be the keynote speaker, and afterwards, we will enjoy a nice lunch and entertainment from the students from Franklin.  This is a cooperation between Martin Luther King Community Coalition and Pasadena Unified School District and Ms. Caroline Bermudez, the school principal of Franklin.

Much gratitude goes out to longtime project coordinators Al Bailey and Joan Reid, and all of the members of the Martin Luther King Coalition.  For more information, call Mr. Bailey at (626) 355-1583.

Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 10 a.m., the Pasadena Human Relations Committee held their 13th Annual “Rekindling the Light of Peace” program inside the City Council Chambers of Pasadena City Hall. It is the opening event leading to the Martin Luther King holiday.

UC Berkeley student senator, John Muir High School alumnus and former Altadena NAACP Youth Council President Destiny Iwuoma was the keynote speaker.  Iwuoma paralleled Dr. King’s struggle for racial and economic justice in the 1960s with contemporary issues of educational access, income inequality and the prison industrial complex.

The Martin Luther King Community Coalition, which began its relationship with the Pasadena Human Relations Commission thirteen years ago, for the city’s very first “Rekindling the Light of Peace” program, was also represented by Dr. Jacqueline Jacobs who shared information about the Coalition’s upcoming annual events celebrating MLK Day 2014.

Also part of the program was columnist, broadcaster, and motivational speaker Cameron Turner and Good Shepard Church Choir of Pasadena.