Services, Dancing, Singing Among Events Honoring Martin Luther King Day

Korean dancers, a choir of singers from seven churches and a student drill team will highlight Martin Luther King Day events in the San Fernando Valley.

The dancers and choir will appear during services Monday night titled “His Dream Is Our Dream,” sponsored by the Valley Interfaith Council, a coalition of about 200 churches.

The service will start with a procession of about 40 elected officials and clergy from various religious faiths. Rabbi Aaron Weis, who walked with King in Alabama, will be among the speakers.

“What we’re trying to do is get a Hispanic, Jewish, Korean, Protestant representation out here . . . to demonstrate that it’s not just a holiday for blacks,” said Barry Smedberg, executive director of the interfaith council. The services will begin at 7:30 p.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 18115 Sherman Way in Reseda.

Also Monday, a drill team, choirs and dancers from at least 10 area schools will perform during a five-hour tribute beginning at 10 a.m. in the Pacoima Community Center at Glen Oaks and Van Nuys boulevards. Essays and art with the theme “His Dream Is Our Dream” will be shown at the Youth Culture Center, next door.

“When I watch the young people perform, it’s like a class,” said Arthur Broadous, youth center director, who has seen the King tribute at least seven years. “A lot of kids never sat in the back of the bus, knew what it was like not to be able to eat in a restaurant.”

Also Monday, a student discussion of the “unfinished business” in King’s legacy will end three hours of programming on the activist aired on KLCS-TV, Channel 58, the educational station of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The programs begin at 10 a.m.

In events today Harding Street School in Sylmar will hold its 21st annual commemoration of King, featuring a six-foot mural of the activist and 150 students singing his favorite hymns.

“The music is fantastic,” said Susan Alves, a teacher and co-director of the program. “We had a dress rehearsal and two teachers were crying. . . .” Programs begin at 9 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. The school is at 13060 Harding St.

Other events today include reenactments of Rosa Parks’ bus trip in Alabama, where she refused to give up her seat to a white man in 1955, triggering civil rights demonstrations. Re-enactments will be performed at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Fenton Avenue School, 11828 Gain St. in Lake View Terrace.

All events are free and open to the public.