"cuz the peaceful party don't stop"

* I put together a 10 minute video (this is the link to download it!) starting at the town clock and ending at the Louden Nelson Center. Still images pulled from the video are published on Indybay. The text used here has been slightly modified based on this announcement published on the Santa Cruz Indymedia Calendar.

A coalition of local organizations invited the entire community to honor the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. by joining in activities to promote peace, equality and social justice on Monday, January 17th. People throughout Santa Cruz County commemorated the holiday by engaging in community service activities - making MLK's birthday a "Day on, not a Day off".

The YouthSERVE Program, Youth Coalition Santa Cruz and the National Coalition Building Institute sponsored these activities to honor the memory of Dr. King.

10 am to 5 pm - Food and Book Drive

YouthSERVE collected non-perishable food to help feed local families in need and new or used books to be used in the local Jail Literacy Project. Donations were brought to the Boys and Girls Club at 543 Center Street in Santa Cruz. "We believe that helping to put food on the table of a hungry family or providing reading material to help educate someone in jail are perfect examples of things that bring us one step closer to Dr. King's dream of an equitable, just society" notes Volunteer Center Director Karen Delaney. YouthSERVE hopes to collect 1,000 books for Friends Outside and 10,000 pounds of food for Second Harvest Food Bank between Dr, Kings' Brithday and Cesar Chavez day in March.


12:00 - Rally and March "Let There Be Peace And Let It Begin With Me"

Santa Cruz activist Pat Clark and the National Coalition Building Institute sponsored a rally at the town clock (pacific and water), followed by a silent march to the Louden Nelson Center. Pat Clark, former NAACP President and one of the local organizers, hopes that people will use part of their holiday to help spread Dr. King's message of hope, equality, compassion and peace. "People think of Dr. King saying "I have a Dream." We want people to remember that Dr. King was also an advocate for ending poverty, promoting peace and taking personal responsibility for making the world a better place."


1:00 - Youth March for Peace

Youth Coalition of Santa Cruz invited youth to gather at Holy Cross Park for a peace march to the town clock, where they joined the silent march to Louden Nelson Center. People held signs that support Dr. King's message of equality, peace and non-violence.