Riots a Somber Backdrop to King Birthday Festival : Remembrance: Speakers say it is important to preserve the slain civil rights leader’s legacy for the next generation.

The memory of last spring’s riots was a heavy presence Friday as Los Angeles civic and community leaders and students launched “King Week Festival ‘93,” the city’s annual commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

After 14 high schoolers sent strains of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” through Baldwin Hills’ Crenshaw Plaza, bodies swaying side to side, speaker after speaker took the podium and declared that 1992’s civil unrest showed that King’s dream of a united America remains unfulfilled nearly 25 years after his death.

“We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horror of police brutality,” said Joe R. Hicks, executive director of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, quoting from King’s historic speech during the 1963 March on Washington.

“We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty bridge,” Hicks continued the quote, to applause from the crowd of about 100.

Seated by the podium, decorated on both sides with photographs of a smiling King, were Mayor Tom Bradley and other city officials. Bradley said celebrating the civil rights leader’s birthday is necessary because “the young people of our community have no personal recollection of Dr. Martin Luther King and it’s important for them that we keep his legacy and dream alive.”

But students from South-Central Los Angeles’ Washington Preparatory High School said King’s legacy was not lost on them, though they had not been born when he was assassinated in April, 1968, while standing on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tenn.

“Dr. King’s dream means to me that we should all get along and not be racist and just work together to make this world a better place to live in,” said 11th-grader Erika Houston.

“He helped us get our freedom and I love him, although I wasn’t around when he was alive,” said Stephanie Smith, a 10th-grader.

Their music teacher, Ella Slaughter said it was rewarding for the students to help launch the 10-day festival of events and activities because “their generation seems to be getting away from what he was about.”

Festival events range from talks about King’s life and ministry to a golf tournament and a ceremony honoring students for their artwork and essays on how his dreams can be realized in the 21st Century.

Art Manley, 30, said King’s dream, to him, meant brotherhood and, “There are no big ‘I’s’ or little ‘you’s.’ Love has no color.”

King Week Events

Events to commemorate the Jan. 15 birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. will take place throughout Los Angeles this week. The holiday will be observed Jan. 18. MONDAY

Southern Christian Leadership Conference Open House--Executive Director Joe Hicks and 25 staff members will help guests learn more about education, counseling and social service programs provided by the organization and its nonprofit counterpart, the Martin Luther King Legacy Assn. The free open house will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. at 4182 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles. WEDNESDAY

Interfaith Prayer Breakfast--The Rev. Norman S. Johnson Sr., pastor of the First New Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, will speak at an 8 a.m. service at Trinity Baptist Church, 2040 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $15 per person. For reservations, call (213) 385-0491. SATURDAY

UCLA Extension One-Day Program--A lecture series titled “What Happens to a Dream Deferred?” and photography exhibit by artist Roland Charles will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Museum of Science and Industry’s Kinsey Auditorium, 700 State Drive, Exposition Park, Los Angeles. Tickets: $45 for credit; $20 not for credit; $10 students with ID. For reservation, call (310) 825-9971. Art and Essay Festival--Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph will be the master of ceremonies as students from kindergarten through 12th grade are honored at the Department of Water and Power, 111 N. Hope St., Los Angeles. Free admission. MONDAY

Interfaith celebration--The Rev. James Lawson Jr. will speak from 9 to 11 a.m. at Santa Monica College in the Pavilion at 1900 Pico Blvd. The event is free and sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Westside Coalition.

Golf tournament--7:30 a.m., Alhambra Municipal Golf Course, Almansor Park, 630 S. Almansor St. Tickets $50. For reservations, call (213) 681-8851 or (818) 570-5059.

Kingdom Day Parade--Begins at 11 a.m. at Crenshaw and Martin Luther King boulevards and ends at Menlo and 39th streets. Grand marshals will be Assemblywoman Juanita McDonald (D-Carson) and Channel 2 sportscaster Jim Hill.

Birthday celebration--The Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. will be the keynote speaker at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, 404 S. Figueroa St. Reception begins at 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $75, $150 and $350. For more information, call 295-KING.

Compiled by Times researcher Cecilia Rasmussen