Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Celebration – Westside Coalition

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition presents the 39th Annual celebration of Dr. King and his legacy on January 15, 2024. The theme for 2024 is: “Stop the Hate, Start the Healing”. The event will include inspirational remarks, music and a brief theatrical performance, as well as education awards, a Community Light Award and our new Nat Trives Service Award to be presented to Nat Trives. The Community Involvement Fair will follow immediately after the main celebration at Santa Monica Bay Women’s Club.

Our keynote will be given by, Lisa Holder, Civil Rights Lawyer and President of Equal Justice Society. Ms. Holder is a nationally recognized, award–winning trial attorney with specialized expertise in equal protection, education equity, employment discrimination, constitutional policing and international human rights law. Ms. Holder was recently appointed President of the Oakland based Equal Justice Society and she also recently completed her two-year term as an appointee of Gov. Gavin Newsom on the historic Reparations Task Force. In 2019, she drafted AB 241 and 242, the laws that now require all judges, attorneys, court staff and health professionals to undertake continuing education on bias elimination.

Enjoy the Dr. King festivities taking place throughout the weekend. Celebrations begin with A Tribute to Harry Belafonte with a special free screening of “Sing Your Song” on Thursday, January 11, 2024 at 5:00 pm. Then there will be a MLK Freedom Celebration on Friday, January 12, 2024 at 8:30 am, presented by the Santa Monica Interfaith Council. The Santa Monica Symphony will present its annual MLK commemorative concert on Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 3:00 pm.

For more information, click here.