(1) The Santa Monica High School Chamber Orchestra performs during the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration at the SGI Auditorium on Monday, January 18, 2010. (2) Crossroads Jazz Ensemble performs during the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration. (3) Sopranoist Savitri Labensart performs during the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration. (4) Santa Monica Police Chief Timothy J. Jackman reads the Liturgy: Dialogue of Reality and Community Affirmation during the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration. (5) Civic leaders hold hands while singing, "We Shall Overcome" during the 25rd Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration at the SGI Auditorium on Monday, January 18, 2010.
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The multiethnic, interfaith program included inspirational readings, music and presentations of scholarships. The keynote speaker was Dr. Adena Loston, a former SMC administrator and president of St. Philip's College in Texas, the nation's only Historically Black College and Hispanic Serving Institution.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first celebrated as a federal holiday in 1986 under a law signed by then-President Ronald Reagan. King and George Washington are the only Americans with federal holidays celebrating their birth. King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. He was assassinated in 1968.
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