Santa Barbara Leaders, Community Pay Tribute to the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
By | Published on 01.16.2012 7:58 p.m.
The spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. was alive and well in Santa Barbara on Monday as several hundred people marched down State Street and filed into the Arlington Theatre for a tribute to the civil rights leader’s life and legacy.
With a theme of “Retelling the Story: The Struggle for Civil Rights,” the day was packed with festivities sponsored by the Santa Barbara Martin Luther King Jr. Day Steering Committee, which has coordinated the observances since 2008.
Santa Barbara resident Wallace Shepherd Sr. served as the keynote speaker of the program this year and recalled his experiences meeting Dr. King and marching alongside him during the civil rights protests that followed.
Shepherd, who was interviewed by R.J. Moten, met King at an NAACP conference in San Francisco, with King eventually visiting his home to coordinate civil rights efforts in the Bay Area.
“No one had attacked apartheid in America at that time,” Shepherd said of King.
He remembered King being someone who could relate to anyone, yet stood firm during the attacks of violence that took place at many of the public protests.
When asked how Shepherd himself faced many of those protest threats, he recalled the obstacles blacks faced then — not just in the South, but also on the West Coast.
False arrests became a problem in the Bay Area, and Shepherd said black residents of San Francisco found in certain neighborhoods after a certain time of night would be rounded up and falsely arrested. He said blacks weren’t allowed to apply for public jobs with the city, even as clerks.
“I decided it was time to fight back,” Shepherd said.
Several videos depicting King’s legacy and historical journey were also shown, detailing King’s effort in the Montgomery bus protest, Atlanta sit-ins, the freedom rides of the 1960s and his journey to the northern cities to gather support for Southern blacks.
Several local officials attended Monday’s ceremony and encouraged the community to further King’s vision.
“The fight is not over,” Santa Barbara County Supervisor Janet Wolf said. “We have a lot more to do.”
County Supervisor Salud Carbajal reminded the community of the beating early New Year’s Day that police say was a hate crime. He called it “an outrageous incident” and called on residents to continue speaking out against such violence.
Recently sworn-in Santa Barbara Councilwoman Cathy Murillo read a resolution on behalf of Mayor Helene Schneider supporting the mission of MLK Jr. Day from the city.
Councilmen Dale Francisco and Grant House were also in attendance, as well as Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara.
