2016 Greetings Arlington Theater
Welcome, Greater Santa Barbara Community!!
...to our ninth annual recognition honoring Dr.Martin Luther King,Jr. The Martin Luther King Junior committee extends a special welcome to our dignitaries in the audience the clergy and all of you.
This year the MLK Jr Comm. extended our activities even further than last year. We had a wonderful amazing kickoff event at the Eternal Flame, this past Friday, on the campus of UCSB, Following the ceremony we proceeded to North Hall which had on display large murals of the students that took over North Hall and demanded equal rights and “Justice for All” which s our theme this year
I was very saddened to learn that on Saturday, following our very successful program at Greater Hope Baptist Church, that one of our former Board Members, Barbara Sachs passed away. Barbara was always very supportive to me personally and was a very active member on the MLK Jr Comm Board of Directors, until she became ill 2 years ago, but despite being ill, she came to assist at a reception, last Spring to recognize our volunteers.
My earliest memory of Barbara is seeing her at the Marina -this rather small lady was in a sea of people, passing out flyers for the Santa Barbara African Heritage Film Series. Though Barbara was not large in stature, she was a giant of a fighter and supporter, when it came to equal justice for all -but more than that she was willing to put herself on the line to do whatever she could to insure it.
Another Civil Rights pioneer loss late last year was Wallace Kennedy Shepherd, Sr. Being the first African American accepted into the Air Force, Aeronautics and Engineering School, he was exposed to a constant barrage of personal attacks and discriminatory practices. Upon leaving the Air Force, he became directly involved with Dr, King and the demands for equal treatment. Not only were strategy planning meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) held in his home, he walked with him on several Marches. He also, was our first interviewee on the stage seven years ago. So this program today is dedicated to the memories of Wallace K Shepard Sr. and Barbara Sachs.
