Special events held on the Central Coast Monday honored the life of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In Lompoc, people gathered at the El Camino Community Center for a program titled “Realizing the Dream.” It included song and dance performances and speeches by local pastors. Organizers say the goal of the event is to bring different cultures together and carry on Dr. King’s memory.
“Regardless of our age or like I said earlier, our color, we can get along,” said Ronald Wiley, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee Chairperson. “This is just a day of remembrance, a day that we should support one another and most of all, love one another.”
In Santa Maria, about two dozen people attended a viewing of the film “Selma” at the Santa Maria Public Library. The 2014 movie details the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his efforts to capture equal voting rights by marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.
“It helps us remember why this day is significant, that persons of color and other groups that were highly discriminated against started to have their say and we are continuing with that fight today,” said Cynthia Thacker, Santa Maria resident.
