A Day to Recall a Dream : Celebration: Hundreds march and gather in Oxnard to observe the birthday of slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Harking back to the 1960s and the heyday of the civil rights movement, more than 1,200 Ventura County residents observed the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in Oxnard Monday with prayer, song and a speech by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

Hand in hand, more than 400 celebrants sang “We Shall Overcome” as they marched about a mile from Plaza Park to the ceremony at the Oxnard Civic Auditorium, recreating the freedom marches throughout the South that galvanized the civil rights movement.

“It’s the largest crowd I’ve ever seen marching from Plaza Park to the auditorium,” Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi said of the sixth annual Oxnard event.

At the ceremony, Brown gave a wide-ranging, impassioned speech, recalling King’s early days as an activist during the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott, and Rosa Parks, who sparked the movement by refusing to relinquish her bus seat to a white passenger.

“Many years after the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, many years after the assassination, there are no children anywhere in this state who do not have an understanding of what this day is about,” Brown said.

However, some adults in California and throughout the country are returning to the racist attitudes that marked the years before the King era, Brown charged.

“We’re literally moving away from the dream,” said Brown, citing former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke’s recent run for the governorship of Louisiana and declining enrollments of blacks at universities.

“You disguise your racism and call it ‘quota’ or ‘anti-welfare,’ ” Brown said. “We have to rekindle the spirit we had in 1968 when King died.”

Brown also took the opportunity to slam Republican officeholders from President Bush to Gov. Pete Wilson, charging that they are insensitive to minorities and the poor. Duke’s philosophies, Brown said, “are being echoed by Wilson, by Bush, by (Vice President Dan) Quayle and the entire Congress.”

Linda Koffman, 12, an eighth-grade student at Fremont Intermediate School in Oxnard, spoke on the importance of remembering civil rights activists and, like Brown, received a standing ovation.

Oxnard High School junior Alicia Sims, 16, said some students at her school looked forward to the King observance so they could throw parties over the long holiday weekend.

However, Alicia said the day holds a special meaning for her.

“I think it’s good that we remember Martin Luther King’s importance,” said Alicia, one of seven students honored for academic achievement. “Without someone like him taking the leadership he did, we wouldn’t have the rights we have now.”

The program drew elected officials including Assemblyman Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria), all five Oxnard City Council members, Ventura Mayor Greg Carson and County Supervisors John K. Flynn and Susan K. Lacey.

Oxnard resident Joanne Traylor, 41, lauded the program for bringing together blacks of diverse backgrounds from around the county, including many military people who live in Oxnard but are not permanent residents.

“The only problem I see is we wait till this one time during the whole year to rejoice and celebrate as a people,” Traylor said.

The program was sponsored by the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Ventura County, the city of Oxnard and Oxnard College.

Committee chairman Bedford Pinkard said the program started “as a simple prayer breakfast that drew 400 people,” and that committee members have worked to attract bigger crowds every year.

“We just don’t want people to forget” about King’s accomplishments, Pinkard said.

Oxnard electronics technician William Simmons, 26, came with his sons Geoffrey, 4, and Niko, 2, and roommate Doug Martin.

Simmons was just 2 years old, the age of his youngest son, when King was killed. Simmons said he grew up learning about King’s leadership and achievements and his commitment to nonviolent change and wants the same for his sons.

“Nowadays, people are forgetting what King’s message really meant,” said Simmons, reaching out to hold Geoffrey. “We have to remember, and instill it in the little ones.”