Photo, clockwise from bottom right: EJS President Lisa Holder delivering the keynote; Darlene Evans, interim chair of the Coalition presenting the Nat Trives Service Award (accepted by Kathryn E. Jeffery, president of Santa Monica College, on Trives’ behalf); Tribute to activist Harry Belafonte sung by Ryan Washington; performance of We Shall Overcome, led by Linda Alvarez. Photos from @cityofsantamonica
On Monday, Equal Justice Society President Lisa Holder delivered the keynote at The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition’s 39th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Santa Monica. This message is based on her keynote.
If the history of America were the night sky, then Dr. King would be its brightest and most brilliant star – its North Star.
In America’s most sacred texts and charters, the nation claims to embody liberty and justice for all, equality of opportunity for all, the freedom for all to pursue happiness. Until Dr. King captivated America and transformed this nation’s consciousness on race, “for all” irrefutably meant “for the select few.”
Dr. King, through his words and deeds and through the courage of his convictions showed America, how to become America.
He gifted America and Americans a moral compass, a North Star, to illuminate a path toward a bona fide inclusive democracy rather than an aspirational democracy that existed solely on paper and in theory.
It was Dr. King’s unique ability to make manifest those words “for all” that make him America’s only uncompromised founding father and the greatest patriot this country has ever known.
I am honored to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy with you. EJS’s mission to transform the nation’s consciousness on race honors and builds on Dr. King’s accomplishments.
Your donation to EJS helps us advance Dr. King’s legacy. Contribute today so that together we fulfill our country’s promise of liberty and justice – for all.