"The arc of the moral universe...bends toward justice."

The foundation will launch a highly anticipated weekly farmer's market in the southeast community to ensure that residents of the area are afforded fresh and sustainable food choices. In partnership with PG&E, various farmers market associations, select vendors and farms, the American Red Cross and others, the marketplace will feature a full farmer's market, along with non-food vendors, entertainment, and preparedness training programs and support. To ensure comprehensive point-of-sale access for low income customers, every vendor will be required to accept the full variety of payments, including EBT and other subsidized payments.

The Foundation has associated with the Southeast Community Facilities Commission and partnered with the American Red Cross to provide disaster preparedness and prevention training at the Southeast community facilities commission's annual health fair each summer. The foundation will move toward bringing in its partner, the San Francisco Hospital Council, in to provide comprehensive services for one of San Francisco’s premier health fair events.

In March 2012 the Foundation initiated the development of its Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics internship program designed to serve as the private partner segment to the City and County of San Francisco-sponsored, award-winning internship program.
The summer of 2013 will begin the Project Pull Summer Internship Program. Designed as an eight-week summer program to cultivate the skills of highly motivated, promising high school students from different backgrounds, the program will partner each participant with private company and mentor that provides a rich and meaningful work experience, showing students what it is like to work in private sector companies’ engineering and/or high tech divisions. Interns will have a chance to participate in projects that help to sharpen their leadership and teamwork skills, and they will also take part in a community service component.

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. The LFF three programs include The Annual Liberation Film Festival, The Undiscovered Gems broadcast series and The Evening of Undiscovered Gems events.

The MLK Children's Reading Festival is an innovative, fun, and stimulating, reading and learning program for children ages 5 - 13 that runs each year during the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.
In 2012, through a grant from Target Corporation and partnership with Marcus Books, the nation's oldest African American book store, the festival was launched at Yerba Buena Gardens' Children’s Creativity Museum, with activities, film screenings, and an MLK learning tour for children as part of the annual MLK celebrations throughout the Yerba Buena Area. And, it culminated in a book give-away, where nearly 200 children completed the activities and received a free book of their choice from Marcus Books.

During this year's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday, the Northern California Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Foundation honored the life and legacy of the great civil rights leader at the region's largest MLK celebration in the heart of downtown San Francisco. With the 2011 theme, "Sustaining the Dream -- Through Community and Service," event attendees at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens enjoyed a full day of activities which included literary and health festivals, a celebratory parade, an interfaith service, interviews with noted leaders, a special presentation dedicated to the legacy of Dr. King, which included performances by the Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Abhinaya Dance Company, the 100 voice Dream Youth Choir, and a host of others, and free activities at local museums.
The celebration's major sponsors were San Francisco's Grants for the Arts and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Golden Gate Transit and Ferry as the event's major transportation partners.
The day began with the opening of the Mind, Body and Soul health festival, where free health screening services, preparedness programs, and an environmentally-friendly full makeover station for teens provided attendees with valuable services and information. Bringing together the region's top health providers, focused on health, wellness, empowerment and sustainability as markers of just and vibrant communities, event partner, the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter, provided fun disaster preparedness games and activities, and conducted an hourly raffle drawing for emergency survival kits, which was a big hit! A Health and Safety station providing basic CPR demonstrations led by instructor volunteers was also a huge success with over 100 attendees learning basic life saving skills. In addition, the American Red Cross Blood Services team also paid tribute through a major community blood drive, where nearly 30 successful blood donations were collected, and youth volunteers joined the crowd of thousands to pay tribute to King during the celebratory parade.
In partnership with Marcus Books, the nation’s oldest African American bookstores, the Foundation inaugurated the San Francisco Literary and Children’s Reading Festival with a book fair and conversations with leading personalities. A special interview, hosted by television personality, Janice Edwards, and book signing by Ms. Belva Davis, the first African American television reporter on the west coast, highlighted the festival, along with a “Sustaining the Dream” conversation with past San Francisco supervisor, the Rev. Dr. Amos Brown. In addition, Harold Brooks, CEO of the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter, hosted a conversation with author and actor, Brandon Hughes.
The annual freedom march and parade followed. Thousands of celebrants were led from the City’s Caltrain Station to AT&T Ball Park, where a commemorative ceremony honoring the 45th year of the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, was held. Afterward, the parade proceeded to Yerba Buena for an interfaith ceremony, where the Glide Foundation’s founder, Rev. Cecil Williams, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, The Most Reverend George Niederauer, provided words of encouragement. And, the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, providing stirring words on Dr. King and peace. The celebrants were then treated to a host of entertainment options, including an outdoor concert by jazz band, Kazemde George, free museum activities at the children’s Zeum, the Museum of the African Diaspora and the Contemporary Jewish Museum.
The highlight of the day’s events was the special program, King in Five Vignettes, which featured the Marcus Shelby Orchestra delivering selections from the new CD, Soul of the Movement--Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Brandon Hughes playing the role of Dr. King. Raseka Kumar, principle dancer with the Abhinaya Dance Company, provided a mesmerizing performance, while eight-year-old, contemporary dance phenom, Li’l Kida, lit up the stage with a hip-hop display. The 100-voice 2011 Dream Youth Choir gave us a reason to be encouraged about the future, and 2009 America’s Got Talent finalist, Lawrence Beamen, stirred the crowd with a rousing rendition of Old Man River. In between, we were treated to encouraging words from civic and faith leaders including, Rev. Dr. Joseph Bryant, Jr., the San Francisco Labor Council’s Timothy Paulson, Rev. James DeLange, Bay Area personality, Noah Griffin, and Rev. Floyd Trammell. Renel Brooks-Moon, the voice of the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, and television personality, Janice Edwards, served as emcees, and the distinctive voice of radio personality, Leslie Stovall, served to host the production.

During this year's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday, the Northern California Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Foundation honored the life and legacy of the great civil rights leader at the region's largest MLK celebration at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Gardens. With the 2012 theme, Renewing the Dream, event attendees at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens enjoyed a full day of activities which included literary and health festivals, a celebratory parade, an interfaith service, a special presentation dedicated to the legacy of Dr. King, and free activities at local museums.
The 2012 celebration also saw the foundation’s launch of the Liberation Film Festival and partnership with Lucasfilm. The event highlight included the screening of Double Victory, the documentary of the experience of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II and the 2012 MLK Conversation with three living Tuskegee Airmen, hosted by Barbara Rodgers.
The celebration's major sponsors were San Francisco's Grants for the Arts, Target Corporation, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, American Red Cross, Wells Fargo, Lennar, with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Golden Gate Transit and Ferry as the event's major transportation partners.
The day began with the opening of the Mind, Body and Soul health festival, where free health screening services, preparedness programs, and an environmentally-friendly full makeover station for teens provided attendees with valuable services and information. Bringing together the region's top health providers, focused on health, wellness, empowerment and sustainability as markers of just and vibrant communities, event partner, the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter, provided fun disaster preparedness games and activities, and conducted an hourly raffle drawing for emergency survival kits, which was a big hit! A Health and Safety station providing basic CPR demonstrations led by instructor volunteers was also a huge success with over 150 attendees learning basic life saving skills. In addition, the American Red Cross Blood Services team also paid tribute through a major community blood drive, where nearly 30 successful blood donations were collected, and youth volunteers joined the crowd of thousands to pay tribute to King during the celebratory parade.
In partnership with Marcus Books and sponsored by Target Corporation, the Foundation Children’s Reading Festival was launched at the Children’s Creativity Museum, with activities for kids throughout the Yerba Buena Area. It culminated in a book fair and give-away. Nearly 200 children completed the activities and received a free book from Marcus Books.
The annual freedom march and parade began the events, with thousands of celebrants led from the City’s Caltrain Station to AT&T Ball Park, where a commemorative ceremony honoring the 46th year of the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, was held. Afterward, the parade proceeded to Yerba Buena for an interfaith ceremony, sponsored by the San Francisco Interfaith Council, where faith leaders provided words of encouragement. And, the newly elected Mayor Edwin Lee provided stirring words on of community and peace.
The celebrants were then treated to an outdoor concert.
In the true spirit and legacy of Dr. King, over 150 volunteers from various community partners also came together to serve on this day as well. AmeriCorps members from across the bay area acted as transportation ambassadors, delivering free and deep discounted public transit tickets from providers such as BART, SFMTA, and the Golden Gate Ferry and Transit systems. AmeriCorps members also served as vital support during the health festival. Over 60 youth volunteers from the Asian Community Partnership also supported the day's efforts by participating as guides and ushers during the parade and events.