For years now, the Latino and Latina Roundtable has supported this spiritual gathering by the Pomona Inland Valley Martin Luther King project – an example of building bridges of multi-racial coalition-building.

A lot of us know about the many contributions of Martin Luther King – especially in advancing civil rights – but seldom is mentioned that MLK – 57 years ago right before he was assassinated, he was building multi-racial coalitions in the labor movement –when he helped organize and support a 64-day strike of sanitation workers that ended with a dignified union contract and gave life to an ongoing union movement in Memphis and public employee union organizing in other parts of the South. What was most important in organizing to turn MLK’s dream into a reality – was the building of multi-racial coalitions – around principles that advocated using peaceful marches, sit-ins, and boycotts as methods to solve conflicts – and using one’s life to empower others.

This is something that was common at that time – and is something that we need to have in common now. Particularly – when there is so much violence – when we are all being affected by high inflation – when immigrants are blamed for these economic conditions – and we are pitted one against the other – with so many of our people incarcerated in the jails rather than being admitted into our halls of higher education. There is a tendency to take out one’s suffering – one’s pain – one’s frustrations – on oneself – on each other – rather than using that energy to organize to change the conditions which are causing our frustration and anger. MLK did not just do service in our communities by writing and speaking – but he was exemplary in organizing against injustices in all its manifestations while building multi-racial unity with our working poor, immigrants, unions, and our intersectional communities.

In this context today, there are two trends developing right now that I sense. One is about a future of equity and justice that MLK stood for and one that wants to take us back to a time before the civil rights movement. On the one hand, there is a trend that is seeking to place the burden of the country’s economic deficit problems on the backs of our young people and their families, our immigrants and poor people, our working people – through cutbacks at the bottom and not at the top. The other trend represents what Martin worked for – that is seeking to build unity among this society’s diverse groups in building the types of alliances and partnerships that are necessary to meet the challenges of a global economy – partnerships that are cultivating the resources that are necessary to meet the needs of our workers, our students – our families. Brothers and sisters, more than ever, we need your voices in supporting the trend that Martin stood for – to ensure the taxes that we pay — are used for better education, health, and quality of life.

So in that spirt – I urge all of you today – to walk out of here today with the legacy of Martin Luther King – to stand firm in our belief that justice is not given — that it is earned through collective struggle and collective organizing – and that we will not stop until the conditions which are creating rampant fear in our communities – is turned around! Let us raise our voices – and not allow scapegoating to divide us –– to respond the way that MLK would want us to respond – in coming together – coalescing – and building spaces and places – such as we are doing today – that are examples of the kind of just and equitable world that all of us – and our future generations – have a right to live in. As you are doing today, as part of the Latino and Latina Roundtable – I invite all of you to our annual Cesar Chavez Breakfast on March 27th where like you – we present scholarships – and we invite you to our annual Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez Pilgrimage march on April 25 that this year will begin at the Pomona Valley Pride Center and end at Tony Cerda Park where we will join the Ohlone – the Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe – and other tribes in a Pow Wow circle of unity to advance the building of long-term multi-racial unity, as we are doing today in honor of Martin Luther King. Long Live the Legacy of Martin Luther King! Long Live the Martin Luther King Project! Long Live Our Unity!