San Diegans Will Honor The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. at The 32nd Annual All Peoples Celebration

To schedule on-site or in-studio interviews please email [email protected] or call (415) 269-3178.

SAN DIEGO, CA — The 32nd annual All Peoples Celebration, honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will take place on Monday, January 20th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Balboa Park Activity Center. The event brings together more than 1,000 San Diegans for an inspiring program featuring civil rights activist and leading Sikh American voice, Valarie Kaur

The event is organized by Alliance San Diego, a community empowerment organization that builds coalitions to promote justice and social change. The celebration includes the following:

  • Community Space with local nonprofit organizations and an interactive art project free and open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
  • Ticketed program is from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. featuring keynote speaker Valarie Kaur, with performances by poet Francine Maigue, recording artist Marvina Porcher, and JT-On-Tour, from the oldest theater company in the U.S., the San Diego Junior Theatre. 

 

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES: 

  • On-site or in-studio interviews with: 
    • Event organizers including Alliance San Diego leadership and volunteers 
    • 11-year old local homeless youth artist, Alan Avila, whose art inspired by Dr. King will be featured at the event:

 

Artwork by 11-year-old homeless youth Alan Avila.

 

To schedule interviews on-site or in-studio please email [email protected] or call (415) 269-3178.  

 Social media hashtag: #APCSD2020


ABOUT VALARIE KAURKEYNOTE SPEAKER

Valarie Kaur is a seasoned civil rights activist and celebrated prophetic voice “at the forefront of progressive change” (Center for American Progress). Valarie burst into American consciousness in the wake of the 2016 election when her Watch Night Service address went viral with 30+ million views worldwide. 

Her question “Is this the darkness of the tomb – or the darkness of the womb?” reframed the political moment and became a mantra for people fighting for change. Valarie now leads the Revolutionary Love Project to reclaim love as a force for justice in America. As a lawyer, filmmaker, and innovator, she has won policy change on multiple fronts — hate crimes, racial profiling, immigration detention, solitary confinement, Internet freedom, and more. 

She founded Groundswell Movement, Faithful Internet, andthe Yale Visual Law Project to inspire and equip new generations of advocates. Valarie has been a regular TV commentator on MSNBC and contributor to CNN, NPR, PBS, the Hill, Huffington Post, and the Washington Post. 

A daughter of Sikh farmers in California’s heartland, Valarie earned degrees at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale Law School. She was named a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum. Valarie’s new book Revolutionary Love expands on her “blockbuster” TED Talk and hits the shelves in Spring 2020.

 

ABOUT THIS YEAR'S THEME

Dr. King believed that all people are created equal and all people are part of the human family. This fundamental belief is a core principle of Alliance San Diego. It guides our work to mobilize for change so that all people can live in an environment of harmony, safety, equality, and justice. It is also the inspiration for the All Peoples Celebration, which recognizes our shared humanity and our shared responsibility to one another and to the world we live in. 

Our theme this year is a call to action: BE HEARD. BE COUNTED. BELONG. We encourage everyone to be heard by lifting our voices, be counted by participating in our democracy, and belong by creating a future where all of us can thrive together. Only together can we build a better tomorrow. In the words of Dr. King:

 “All [people] are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.” 

In 2020, the stakes could not be higher for our families, our communities, and our future. This year, especially this year, let us meet hate and division head on with love and inclusion. Let us create space for everyone and engage each other with dignity and respect. We may not always agree, but let us act together to forge solutions for all of us. To that end, we invite you to build unity so that all people are heard, all are counted, and all belong to the Beloved Community envisioned by Dr. King. 

 

About Alliance San Diego

Alliance San Diego is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) community empowerment organization working to ensure that all people can achieve their full potential in an environment of harmony, safety, equality, and justice. Our mission is to provide a means for diverse individuals and organizations to share information, collaborate on issues and mobilize for change in the pursuit of social justice, especially in low-income communities and communities of color. We pursue this mission through targeted civic engagement programs and strategic coalitions that focus on specific issues and policy reforms.

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