More than 1,000 people attended the 28th All Peoples Celebration in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Balboa Park Activity Center Monday morning.
The featured speaker at the sold-out event was Emmy Award-winning journalist John Carlos Frey, who was raised in San Diego. His work has been featured on "60 Minutes," PBS, NBC News, CBS News, Univision and Telemundo, among others.
He called on audience members to become citizen journalists, saying it’s important for everyone to play a part in exposing injustices.
“I’d like to join you and I’d like you to join me and those like me to use our resources, to use our strengths and our talents to create justice," Frey told the audience, which was made up of more than 50 social justice organizations. "Because that’s how it happens, we have to create it, we can’t wait for it.”
The audience gave him a standing ovation after his speech. Frey said Martin Luther King Jr. serves as inspiration for people to fight for a better San Diego.
“I think if you were to define Martin Luther King in one word it would be 'justice,' and all these individuals who are here, the organizations that are here, are fighting for justice. Or they want justice. Which means equality.
Which means being on a level playing field with everybody else," Frey said. "That’s what he fought for.”
Alliance San Diego hosted the event. Associate Director Chris Wilson said it’s meant to highlight the role residents play in solving local problems such as discrimination against immigrants, police brutality, racism and more.
Enjoying the 28th Annual All Peoples Celebration hosted by Alliance San Diego! pic.twitter.com/nsF2qoEL9N
— Greg Cox (@SupervisorCox) January 18, 2016
“Dr. King’s dream is what we’re all working towards and we need one day a year where we can come and be recharged and revitalized and re-inspired to continue doing the good work of building a beloved community,” Wilson said.
Constance Carroll, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District, also spoke, and playwright Samuel Valdez received an award for community service.
Nearby, hundreds of volunteers from area churches, mosques and synagogues helped to spruce up Balboa Park by laying mulch, clearing weeds and picking up downed branches.
"To be unified, and to come together and there is no judgment — it's just love — especially on a day like Martin Luther King Day where I feel like the whole point is to get along and to work together, and to have peace," Stacy Circuit said.
Also Monday, the North County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held its Martin Luther King Jr. Community Prayer Breakfast at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, and the United African American Ministerial Action Council held its annual community breakfast at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation.
