Oakland CA – Martin Luther King Jr. Day, his January 21st birthday, was made a national Federal holiday, and then in 1994, a national day of service. How did Oakland celebrate Dr. King’s birthday? I took a walk around social media, to learn the answer to that question.
Oakland North Remembers Oaklanders Who Helped Make MLK Day A Holiday
The blog Oakland North posted a tweet reminding us of Oakland’s role in making Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday a holiday via the work of former Oakland Technical High School Teacher Tay McArthur.
Today we also remember former Oakland Tech teacher Tay McArthur and a group of students who helped #MLKDay become a holiday in California years before it was enacted throughout the nation.#KnowYourRoots https://t.co/rd8JsdD07t
— Oakland Roots (@oaklandrootssc) January 21, 2019
Bay Area Alphas Clean Up In East Oakland
On Twitter, Noted reporter Terry Collins pointed to work done by the “Bay Area Alphas”, the Berkeley-based Gamma Phi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Another year of the @BayAreaAlphas restoring a part if east Oakland. #MLKDay #MLK2019 @apa1906NETwork pic.twitter.com/fqI1008uwy
— Terry Collins (@terryscollins) January 22, 2019
The #ReclaimMLK Movement at Oakland City Hall
Oakland City Hall is the backdrop for the message of the #ReclaimMLK movement, led by former Oakland Mayoral Election Candidate Cat Brooks.
James Burch, @APTPaction Policy Director: “Oakland City Council has the power to limit the ability of OPD to kill people but they’ll never do it unless we stand up and demand it.” #ReclaimMLK #JusticeforSaleem pic.twitter.com/2jiTNtX5Kj
— #Asians4BlackLives (@Asians4BlkLives) January 21, 2019
A meditation from #ReclaimMLK #Oakland on #MLK90 ?? ? #MLKDay #MLK2019 pic.twitter.com/ZHBpYgRpZa
— Ravi Valleti (@RaviValleti) January 22, 2019
The #ReclaimMLK event at Oakland City Hall started at 11 AM today, and is still going on as this is written. But, to be sure, #ReclaimMLK is not Oakland-based, but a nationwide effort that started several years ago.
According to a 2015 Huffington Post entry by Lilly Workneh, Ferguson Action at http://fergusonaction.com, described as a grassroots civil rights organization that was formed out of the horror of the police murder of Michael Brown, called for the celebrations and demonstrations that year to be tied to work activists did to draw attention to racial inequality and police brutality. The Oakland gathering of today was born out of that call for action. What follows are tweets from #ReclaimMLK Oakland 2019.
Thousands rally in #Oakland#MLKDay #ReclaimMLKOak @kpfa @KPFANews pic.twitter.com/6VUgdnrAfL
— Corinne Smith (@Cocoluces) January 21, 2019
African dancing, singing, and drumming in front of city hall in Oakland. #ReclaimMLK #ReclaimMLKOak #MLKDay pic.twitter.com/C7DO85RwF9
— Indybay (@Indybay) January 22, 2019
Large #MLKDay march in Oakland heading south on Broadway. #ReclaimMLKOak #ReclaimMLK pic.twitter.com/TLtTdU6O77
— Indybay (@Indybay) January 21, 2019
Ready to take off for the 2019 #ReclaimMLK March with @CatsCommentary and @APTPaction leading the March: “this is truly my favorite day of the whole entire year.” #MLK #MartinLutherKingJrDay #Oakland pic.twitter.com/mFnOc1BxAk
— #Asians4BlackLives (@Asians4BlkLives) January 21, 2019
One of the major actions at Oakland City Hall involved the destruction of guns…
We don’t play in #Oakland #ReclaimMLK @APTPaction pic.twitter.com/yciZmjBCUr
— impostor hoopoe (@thehoopoe) January 22, 2019
The Family of Sahleem Tindle on the truck as we pause in front of OPD headquarters as James Burch talks about how @APTPaction and we can help increase transparency and limit police use of force. #ReClaimMLKOak#Oakland#10Hrs4OscarGrant#BlackLivesMatter#reclaimMLK #MLKday2019 pic.twitter.com/kIPM0XYZCG
— TDL (@tdlove5) January 21, 2019
Stay tuned.