Activists ‘use their voices’ at Sacramento’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march

In celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., more than 2,500 Californians marched through Sacramento’s Land Park neighborhood as part of the 42nd Annual March for the Dream.

People of all ages — from infants to teenagers to grandparents — congregated at Sacramento City College and then poured into the streets during the largely joyous event. They carried banners and flags representing a myriad of organizations and causes, and they exuded joy, hope and passion. At the same time, there was an undercurrent of anger and frustration at injustices that still persist around the world today.

Most marchers stressed the importance of educating and informing their local Sacramento community about how their individual causes intersect with Dr. King’s enduring legacy of demanding justice for all.

The concept of “walk with me” and bringing together people from all walks of life, says lead organizer Sam Starks, is what the March for the Dream is all about.

“If they could walk together, they’ll talk together,” said Starks, who founded MLK365, the group that organizes the march. “And if they can talk together, maybe they’ll begin to understand one another.”

Black community leaders, pastors and youth empowerment groups walked and danced alongside educators and students near the front of the march. Further back, a large group of pro-Palestine protesters shouted chants such as, “Gavin Newsom, you will see, Palestine will be free!” And near the end, members of the Sacramento Jewish Community Relations Council and Congregation B’nai Israel carried banners and signs that read, “Keep the Dream Alive.”

Sprinkled in throughout the march were officers from several law enforcement agencies, including the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Five state correctional officers from the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center also made an appearance.

Before the march kicked off, several elected officials welcomed the crowd, including Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove. Steinberg’s daughter flew from Los Angeles to join her dad for his final march as mayor. The first time Jordana Steinberg marched, her father said, was when she was still in her mother’s womb.

“This is a wonderful tradition, and it brings back a lot of memories,” the mayor said. “But it’s also a reminder that the work is never done. There’s still so many injustices, still so much inequity in our community and in our country.”

Starks said protest and mission-driven messaging are an important part of the march. As long as protesters adhere to Dr. King’s mandate of nonviolence, he encourages people to bring their causes to the march each year and “use their voice.”

“We don’t limit, or critique, or stop people from expressing their truth,” Starks said. “No one’s above a critique. Not me, MLK, the mayor, the president, no one.”

LIVING KING’S LEGACY, 365 DAYS A YEAR

What started more than 40 years ago as a memorial walk with a few hundred people has blossomed into a year-round campaign to champion Dr. King’s values. Starks took over organizing the March for the Dream event 20 years ago. But he wasn’t satisfied with just one annual celebration.

“We can’t just have these one-day birthday parties and feel good that that’s going to make the difference,” Starks said. “If Dr. King were alive, it would be about what people are doing today to change the world around them.”

Starks, now 63, has been working at SMUD for 26 years. When he retires soon, he’ll make MLK365 his main passion project.

Improve Your Tomorrow, a local education nonprofit founded in 2013, embodies Starks’ vision of carrying forward Dr. King’s legacy every day of the year. The organization encourages young men of color to finish high school and pursue college, and provides resources to help them succeed.

“What we want to do is really be able to enact Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream,” said Michael Casper, co-founder and chief operating officer. “This day is extremely important because we exist again to be able to propel it forward.”

Casper says the organization has worked with more than 3,500 young men in the last 10 years and now employs a staff of close to 280 people.

One of those staffers, 22-year-old Donald Byers, found the program five years ago as a junior at Discovery High School in Natomas. At the time, college wasn’t even a consideration for him.

“I had kind of given up on education, and I wasn’t taking anything too seriously,” Byers said.

But with help from IYT, he improved his grades, graduated as valedictorian of his class and is now continuing his studies at American River College, majoring in computer science.

“I guess you could say I’m a product of the work that we do.”

CONFLICT IN ISRAEL AND GAZA TAKES CENTER STAGE

Gabe Ayala used the little bit of voice he had left to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The 28-year-old from Vacaville had attended a march the previous day in San Francisco. Waving his Palestinian flag above his head, Ayala explained how even though he didn’t have personal connections to Gaza or the Palestinian people, he felt obligated to use his voice to condemn the violence, death, starvation and injustice that he sees.

“Even if 10 people out of this whole crowd took time to research and look into what’s actually happening, informing themselves and educating themselves, then it’s worth it,” he said. “It’s important to come out here and use my voice for that reason alone.”

Nearby, Fatima Ahmed of Sacramento also chanted her support for a ceasefire. Ahmed, who has roots in Egypt, said she and her family can’t sleep soundly at night or live their normal lives while knowing that people in Gaza suffer.

“We’re here so our leaders can hear our voices, so that Congress members can hear our voices. They need to represent us,” Ahmed said. “We’re here for justice. It doesn’t matter our skin color. It doesn’t matter our background. We’re all Americans here, we’re all here for justice. We all demand justice for all – for everybody.”

Among the demonstrators were also marchers who carried signs that identified themselves as Jewish. Miriam Joffe-Block, a member of Congregation B’nai Israel, said she came to the march with her two children in order to speak up on behalf of the children and families in Gaza.

“It’s really important that there be a Jewish voice against the killing of children in Gaza,” said Joffe-Block as she pushed her own children in a stroller. “And I believe that if MLK were alive, he would be opposed to this war. So we are honoring his legacy by honoring a ceasefire.”

The mother of two hopes she can show her children that even though war is scary, they don’t have to accept violence and other wrongdoings as facts of life.

“We can use our voices to demand better,” she said.

While the demonstrators raised their voices near the front of the parade, members of the Sacramento Jewish community carried their own banners and messages toward the end of the march.

Judy Heiman, who chairs B’nai Israel’s committee on racial justice, said her group focuses narrowly on issues in Sacramento and California, rather than conflicts that are unfolding on the other side of the globe. One of the committee’s current priorities is mobilizing California voters and also communicating the findings of California’s Reparations Task Force Report. A handful of committee members read the entire 1,065-page document. Now, they hope to educate others about both the harms and the proposed 115 solutions the committee identified.

“A lot of our Jewish values are very consistent with the values that Dr. King espoused,” Heiman said. “particularly around social justice and the belief that every person has been made in the image of God.”

Jason Weiner, chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said he and his family have been coming out to the march for close to 10 years (his two children carried the JCRC’s banner). Weiner acknowledged that the Jewish community has endured “a lot of pain, anger and fear” over the last few months, but said that wasn’t the driving force behind why he and his family came out to the march.

“We’re here to support the African American community, and we’re here to be part of the Sacramento community,” Weiner said, “to say that we’re supporting each other.

“And we do always want to make sure that people know that the Jewish community is here as well.”