By ANNA BLOOM
At Thursday’s opening ceremony for “Oakland
Celebrates the Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,”
leaders reached for the wisdom of King to weave together the
tragic and auspicious first month of 2009.
The ceremony was held the afternoon following the second of
two citywide protests over the fatal shooting of 22-year-old
Oscar Grant III on Jan. 1 at the Fruitvale BART station.
Newspapers led the day’s paper’s with the story that
the former BART police officer, Johannes Mehserle, was
charged with murdering Grant, who, at the time of his
killing, had been unarmed and handcuffed. As speakers took
the podium in front of Oakland’s City Hall, vandalism,
flyers and a decorated memorial in Grant’s name marked
the city’s streets.
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, Oakland City Councilwoman Jean
Quan and the event’s keynote speaker Angela Glover
Blackwell, looked forward to next week. King would find much
to celebrate, they reminded their audience: Following
King’s 80th birthday this Monday, the inauguration of
Barack Obama, the first black president-elect in United
States’ history, is slated for Tuesday, Jan. 20.
For a complete schedule of Martin Luther King, Jr. events
throughout Oakland, visithttp://oaklandnet.com/celebrations/