Palo Alto marks MLK Day through activism

The community marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday by taking action to serve others, but also to speak out against the country’s current political climate.

This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service saw an increased emphasis on action, both through volunteerism and activism. The event, in its eighth year, has been organized annually by the city of Palo Alto and Youth Community Service (YCS) an organization that aims to bridge Palo Alto and East Palo Alto through youth community service.

During the opening remarks of the event, Leif Erickson, the executive director of YCS quoted King, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”

The famous line set the tone for the actions attendees would take at the event, which included creating protest signs, writing letters to their representatives and crafting blankets and scarves to be donated to residents of Palo Alto’s sister city Oaxaca, Mexico.

The event also gave attendees the opportunity to meet with 18 different organizations from surrounding areas seeking long-term volunteers.

This year’s event, emphasized action more than in previous years due to anxieties prevalent in the current political climate. Erickson’s remarks were followed by Mayor Liz Kniss who expressed dismay at the president’s controversial views on minority populations.

Jose Perez, teen program specialist for the city of Palo Alto and one of the event organizers, said this year’s day of service was more activist- and service-oriented than last year’s event.

“I think in the previous years it was more focused on celebrating. And although we are celebrating this year, we are also incorporating more of that service opportunity,” he said.

Stacy Philpot, who attended the event for the first time with her family, enjoyed the organizers’ success at making the event inclusive and interactive by using music, video and “activism to teach not just who he was but to teach his legacy and to teach us what we can do as well.”

The event also showcased a variety of performers, many who are active in their own communities. Three students from the Menlo-Atherton Black Students Union performed spoken word and sang as a part of the event. The union strives to work with other student groups at Menlo-Atherton High School to create an inclusive community and raise awareness for their fellow classmates here under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

“The union represents unity and diversity,” the union’s president Danae Brister said.

Though an undercurrent of anxiety was present, excitement about taking action dominated the event.

“Some of these issues can seem so overwhelming — hunger, poverty and injustice,” Erickson said. “By giving students an opportunity to do something hands on — that really can make a difference in a small way — they feel like they’re an important part of the solution.”

The spirit of service resonated at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center (JCC), where the 11th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, also known as “Mitzvah Day,” kicked off at 8:30 a.m. More than 1,000 people, a majority of whom signed up ahead of time, participated in service projects at the center and other locations.

The volunteers prepared turkey sandwiches to be delivered by LifeMoves and other organizations serving the homeless; sanded planter boxes that will be used for native plant restoration at the Palo Alto Baylands and made blankets benefiting Project Linus, among other projects.

The JCC also accepted canned food to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank and gift cards for people affected by the North Bay fires.

At the other end of town, about 50 protesters took to street corners around noon at El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road to remember Martin Luther King Jr. and what he stood for — and to protest the recent language used by President Donald Trump disparaging African nations, Haiti and El Salvador, as reported by multiple national news organizations.

The protesters said that Trump should resign or be impeached, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the most appropriate day to voice their disdain for the president’s words.

Henry Organ, a Menlo Park resident and retired associate director for foundations with Stanford University’s Office of Development, stood at the curb in front of Town & Country Village shopping center holding a “Resign You Racist” sign.

He worked with the Congress of Racial Equality up and down the Peninsula in the 1960s working for fairness and equality in Silicon Valley employment and at the university. He also gave fundraising advice in the early days of the Martin Luther King, Jr. King Papers Project at Stanford, which publishes significant speeches and work by the civil rights leader.

A soft-spoken man, he recalled that while working at Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto in the early days of Silicon Valley, he experienced overt racism on one occasion, although most of the time that was not the case at his workplace.

“I found on my car at the parking lot at Lockheed someone took a knife and scratched “N—–” on the door,” he recalled.

Organ said he felt compelled to join the protest after Trump’s harsh words.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate (King’s) birthday. … Being out here is therapy in a way because I feel kind of hopeless,” he said. “We can’t be silent when vitriolic language is being used. It’s important to be present when the president is acting in a way that violates the rights of others.

“Dr. King would not be deterred. He would continue to fight. The thing I admired most in him was his resilience and resistance through nonviolence,” he said.

Debbie Mytels said she came to protest Trump’s language and policies and in support of King’s messages.

“Trump being the president and saying overtly racist things on the weekend before the celebration of our country making progress on civil rights is so racist,” she said, particularly coming 50 years after the progress so many people, black and white, fought for, she said.

Protest organizer Paul George, executive director of the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, said timing the event was also in keeping with King’s teachings and ideals.

“I couldn’t think of a more appropriate day to protest a racist president. Donald Trump is setting us back to the days when we needed civil rights marches,” he said.

No counterprotesters attended the event.