MLK2013
photo by Paul Waters
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, thedistinguished leader of the Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives, greeting a celebrant after the interfaith commemoration during the 2011 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebration at Yerba Buena. Leader Pelosi delivered stirring words on King and peace during the events.
Since 2011, each third Monday in January northern Californians of every age, background and walk of life experience a full day of free festivities in honor of Dr. King at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Gardens.
Continuing the great tradition of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebrations in San Francisco, the foundation serves as annual host of the region’s premier celebration events. As one of the world’s leading regions and an important civil and human rights location, this legacy of reflection and celebration continues by honoring our past and embracing the future through the creation of new programs and event themes.
On January 21, 2013, thousands of celebrants will come together for a full day of exciting programs, festivals and activities in honor of Dr. King. And, through our multi-platform media outlets via broadcast, print, online and social, MLK2013 will extend to over six million regional residents as well as national and international audiences.
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Each year the Foundation partners with BART, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), and the Golden Gate Transportation District to provide free commemorative flash passes and other free transportation to and from the celebration events.
Service riders are provided commemorative BART passes for BART travel. Limited availability and first-come-first-served.
Register Here for your free BART commemorative passes.
For your free Golden Gate Ferry passes register here.
For celebrants traveling from the peninsula, take the Caltrain Freedom Train, sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Santa Clara Valley. Round-trip tickets are $10. Purchase online at BrownPaperTickets.
Stay informed by subscribing to us on Twitter @norcalmlk.
View MLK2013 March/Parade in a larger map
Celebrants from every background and walk of life commemorate the Civil Rights movement and Dr. King by participating in the reinactment of the movement's most powerful weapon of protest.
Thousands join together in a commemorative march/parade from San Francisco's Caltrain Station to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Gardens. The march/parade begins at 11:00am on January 21, 2013, participants are encouraged to arrive early.
The 1.5 mile march crosses over Lefty O'Doul Bridge and stops at Willie Mays Plaza at AT&T Park to commemorate the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, marches, which crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a symbol of violence and victory in the civil rights era.
At conclusion of the March,in partnership with the San Francisco Interfaith Council, an interfaith commemoration will bring together the region’s faith leaders to commemorate the vision of Dr. King and to lead participants in a spiritual reflection of Dr. King's message.
photo by Grason Littles
Young percussionist plays as part of the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble, the showcase artists during the 2012 celebration's main program in the LAM Research Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
The marquis event of the celebration day brings Dr. King's words to life in
The Sunday Morning Experience, featuring conversations with civil rights and political luminaries and performances by soprano
Hope Briggs, the
St. John Coltrane Church Ensemble, and actor Brandon Hughes. The program begins at 12:45pm in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Lam Research Theater. Limited seating, with overflow viewing in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum.
photo by Grason Littles
Three members of the famed Tuskegee Airmen in conversation during the 2012 celebration events. The foundation teamed with Lucasfilm to screen Double Victory, the documentary of the Tuskegee Airmen and their World War II story in their own words. The information and records of the famed airmen served as source material for the motion picture Red Tails, released in February 2012.
The Waiting Room has been selected as the Liberation Film Festival’s 2013 MLK Feature Documentary.
The Waiting Room offers a raw, intimate, and often uplifting look at how patients, staff and caregivers cope with disease, bureaucracy, frustration, hope and hard choices during one typically hectic day at Oakland’s Highland Hospital.
The award-winning documentary has been placed on the short-list for an Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the 2012 best documentary film.
The Liberation Film Festival’s feature documentary will screen at the 2013 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Monday, January 21, in the Lam Research Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and will follow with a special 2013 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. conversation with the film’s producer Peter Nicks.
The events are free and open to the public with limited theater seating on a first come first served basis. Overflow viewing will be available in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum.
The Liberation Film Festival (LFF) is dedicated to bringing short-format cinema and human interest documentaries to the public through innovative programs designed to engage new and diverse audiences.
2013 will mark the second annual Liberation Film Festival.
2012 saw over 3,000 patrons view screenings at the inaugural film festival in San Francisco and San Jose, with the showcase documentary screening in partnership with Lucasfilm.
photo by Paul Waters
Television personality, Janice Edwards (middle), with the Honorable Doris Ward (left), past president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and former county Assessor, and the Honorable Willie B. Kennedy (right), past member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and former president of the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors. In partnership with PG&E, the foundation presented an historic conversation on the two women’s legacy in San Francisco and regional politics.
The 2013 MLK Conversations are scheduled to feature reflections from civic and political luminaries, including former San Francisco mayor, the Honorable Willie L. Brown, Jr. and former San Francisco supervisor, the Honorable Willie B. Kennedy, and producer Peter Nicks of The Waiting Room, the 2013 Liberation Film Festival feature documentary.
This year's conversations are a part of the Sunday Morning Experience and Liberation Film Festival feature documentary screening programs in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Lam Research Theater.
During the 2013 celebration events, the Foundation will host THE DREAM@50 Art Contest awards ceremony in the LAM Research Theater.
THE DREAM@50 Art Contest commemorates the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, in partnership with the United Nations, Americans for the Arts, King Center, National Education Association, National Art Education Association, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council for the Social Studies, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and YouTube.
In the San Francisco/Bay Area THE DREAM@50 Art Contest is a co-presentation of the Foundation, the San Francisco Unified School District in partnership with the Oakland Unified School District, San Francisco Arts Commission, Alameda County Office of Education, San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, San Francisco Public Library, Oakland Public Library, Museum of the African Diaspora / MOAD, Children’s Creativity Museum, SFO Museum, Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, and CBS Outdoor.
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The ceremony's keynote speaker is the Honorable Teresa D. Cox.
In a career that has spanned disciplines as broad as engineering, supply chain, investment banking, and contract management, Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and the White House, she is undoubtedly a woman to watch.
Teresa grew up in a family that deeply valued education. Her mother was a music teacher and her father taught the building trades in public school. Her dad died when she was just nine years old. Raised by her mother on a teacher’s salary, Teresa learned that education, hard work, and personal responsibility were the keys to success.
She made national headlines as the first African-American female to earn a degree in Nuclear Engineering in the United States. Teresa graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago. She completed her MBA Degree from the University of Rochester’s Simon Graduate School of Business Administration.
In 2010, Teresa was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and the United States Ambassador and Trade Representative Ron Kirk to serve during the 2010-14 charter term on the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business (ITAC 11) as a representative of the U.S. computer industry sector. Teresa works with the other members of ITAC 11 to provide trade policy, technical advice, and recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) regarding trade barriers, negotiation of trade agreements, and implementation of existing trade agreements affecting small and minority business. She has represented the United States at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
In 2012, Teresa was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson to serve as one of the California members of the U.S. District Export Council (DEC) during the 2012-2015 charter term. Ms. Cox supports numerous trade promotion activities with the U.S. Department of Commerce and foreign government officials. She assists small and medium sized businesses that are interested in exporting and helps to address international trade issues.
Teresa serves as a Trustee on the Ohlone Community College Board and has served as a board member of the San Francisco Chapter of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and on the Stanford’s Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital Neonatal Advisory Board.
Teresa is the proud mother of two children, a daughter and a son.
image designed from a photo by Paul Waters
Children of the MLK2011 Dream Choir
Through the Children’s Discovery Hunt young celebrants ages 5 – 12 can participate in a fun and engaging quest about Dr. King throughout Yerba Buena and receive a free prize at the end.
See this year's discovery hunt challenge card below, and be sure to grab one from the Foundation table at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
photo by Paul Waters
Young leaders urging peace during the 2011 events. Health indicators have shown that low income communities suffer from some of the widest health disparities, with violent crime as one of the top health indicators among urban male populations.
In partnership with the American Red Cross, SFEnvironment, and the San Francisco Hospital Council, along with numerous special programs and services, the health, preparedness and sustainability festival brings together the region’s health providers for a one-day event of free services and exciting activities during the MLK celebration The goal is to promote health, wellness, sustainability, and preparedness as essential elements of fair, just, and vibrant communities.
Doors open at 10:30am
photo by Paul Waters
Saxophonist Howard Wiley performs during the 2011 celebration events.
Enjoy an afternoon of live music and poetry in Yerba Buena Gardens beginning at 1:15pm on the Esplanade stage. The Richard Howell Quintet and the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble will bring the stage to life, and renowned local poets will perform original pieces in commemoration of Dr. King.
photo by Paul Waters
San Francisco Interfaith Council executive chair, Rita Semel, (front center) and executive director, Michael Pappas (backrow center), along with former San Francisco mayor, Hon. Willie L. Brown, Jr., (far right)Interfaith Council board member, Hon. Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, Jr., (2nd from the left) and two civic leaders at the conclusion of the 2011 interfaith ceremony at the Esplanade Stage at Yerba Buena Gardens.
Since 2011 the San Francisco Interfaith Council has partnered with the foundation to host the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. interfaith commemorations at the annual celebration events.
As part of the commemorations celebrants are able to participate in two ceremonies, the Selma-to-Montgomery commemoration as part of our annual March & Parade at Willie Mays Plaza at AT&T Park and the interfaith commemoration at the Esplanade Stage at Yerba Buena Gardens.
