Over 1,000 people from the Bay Area gathered Monday in San Francisco to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., but the city’s legacy as a defender of civil rights was the underlying narrative as it braces for a political battle to come.
Rev. Amos Brown, senior pastor at San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church and student of the assassinated civil rights leader, rallied the crowd at the city’s MLK Jr. birthday celebration.
Brown urged the crowd to be watchful of “that gentleman who stole, who lied, who cajoled and faked his way back to the White House. Yes, I said it,” Brown said. “He and the religious right of this nation have stolen the identity and the spirituality of Jesus of Nazareth. They are thieves, not truth tellers. They are haters, not helpers.”
Brown joined city and state leaders in the annual celebration at the Yerba Buena Gardens, organized by San Francisco’s Interfaith Council. Underlying the event was the concurrent inauguration of President Donald Trump.
“Some folks don’t like what you’re doing, but you need to stay there,” Brown said. “Keep your eyes on the prize. Don’t let nobody intimidate you. Don’t let nobody lie about you or take your birthright. Hang on, because Dr. King is watching you. He’s not dead. He’s watching you do your duty.”
The national holiday is celebrated as a day of service. African American history lessons are taught in public schools this week and the accomplishments of African Americans are noted in public ceremonies.
Speakers at the event included Rev. Staci Current, Pastor of Temple United Methodist Church, who read a passage from King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Christina Jefferson of the Jewish Community Relations Council read an excerpt from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, as did Rev. Elaine Donlin of the Buddhist Church of San Francisco.
Michael Pappas, executive director of San Francisco’s Interfaith Council, described the Trump inauguration and presidency as the elephant in the room.
“We are sort of the epicenter of the resistance,” he said. “Before there was a sanctuary ordinance, there was a sanctuary movement, and it was people of faith who were doing that. It’s part of our DNA. I think everybody’s just kind of waiting to see the magnitude of it. But in the meantime, we’ve been working with the city’s Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs for months, preparing for this.”
The government, federal level, state level, local level, we need to show that we can deliver for people. Because if you don’t deliver for people, then it creates an opportunity for a scam artist like Donald Trump to come in…
State Sen. Scott Wiener
“There are so many ways that San Francisco and its communities are being targeted,” said San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, as he entered the event. He said his office has already prepared several lawsuits. “Everything was planned to defend the city, our people and are values.”
“There’s an opportunity for people to have a neurotic mindset about it,” said Mykah Montgomery, one of the event performers. “The more you speak it, that’s what you’re going align to. It’s a part of the story. It’s supposed to happen. It’s going to happen. We are still going to do what we have to do, as will they, and then we take action.”
How Trump ‘won in lots of different ways’
While the celebrations continued in San Francisco, in his inaugural address, President Trump thanked Black and Hispanic voters for helping him secure the popular vote in swing states.
“He won in lots of different ways,” said San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman. “But clearly, he did better in minority communities than he had in the past. I think, Democrats need to be thoughtful about that and recognize that the whole country, had failed lower-income folks, working-class folks. And Donald Trump is communicating with people who don’t have college degrees. White people, but also people of color without college degrees. And he is convincing working-class people that he cares more about them.”
Mandelman described the 20th century ideal as having a blue-collar job where you can work hard, save for retirement, have a pension, buy a home.
“It’s not real for a lot of people anymore, and Trump has become very effective at appealing precisely to those people who are being left behind,” he said.
“For decades, San Francisco’s Black community has been the heart of our city’s fight for justice,” said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie as he addressed the crowd. “Yet we cannot ignore the painful reality the Black population of San Francisco has been shrinking, and the communities that remain have been disproportionately affected by economic and health crises, including the fentanyl epidemic.”
Lurie said that Black men in the city are 32 times more likely to die from an overdose than an average American.
“This is not just a crisis. It’s a moral failure,” Lurie said.
Also at the event was State Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco. Speaking ahead of celebrations, he said the legislature called a special session to plan a coordinated defense, appropriating $50 million to bolster the attorney general’s efforts to file suit against constitutional violations.
“There’s a lot of frustration in this country with the government’s failures in delivering for people, whether it’s around housing or the cost of living,” Wiener said. “The government, federal level, state level, local level, we need to show that we can deliver for people. Because if you don’t deliver for people, then it creates an opportunity for a scam artist like Donald Trump to come in and say, I’m going to make everything cheaper for you. I’m going to solve your problem, even though he has no idea how to actually solve any problems.”
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