The theme of this year’s celebration: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere: protecting democracy and freedom of speech’
By PIPER AWEEKA — city@theaggie.org
At 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 19, the parking lot of the Davis Veterans Memorial Theater was close to capacity. Approaching the doors of the building, each attendee was welcomed with a program for the 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, handed out by Assistant City Manager Kelly Stachowicz. Planned by the City of Davis Human Relations Commission, the theme of this year’s celebration was “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere: protecting democracy and freedom of speech.”
After a brief welcome from the Human Relations Commission, Mayor Donna Neville greeted the seated audience of the Veterans Memorial Theater.
“It’s really, truly an honor for me to be here today to recognize the legacy of Dr. King and the incredible, hard work that all of you have been doing,” Neville said. “Over this past year, where it seemed like our democracy was being torn apart at the seams, […] all of you acted. You stood up and defended democracy, and I’m deeply grateful for what you’ve done.”
Before concluding her speech, Neville delivered a message for the attending youth. Reminded of her experience as a child during a time of civil unrest, Neville offered words of advice.
“To you young people who are sitting here in the audience, I want to urge you to take away the same lessons that I took away from those early years — which is that we need to stay hopeful,” Neville said. “We have to look beyond ourselves and always, always have to speak up, speak out and do everything we can to fight against racial and social injustice […] So, thank you for being here.”
The Black National Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — sung by local mother-daughter duo Dzokerayi Minya Mukome and Chiyedza Mukome — initiated the rest of the celebration. Presentations ranged from poetry reading by Davis Poet Laureate Mercedes Ibañez to performances by the children of Parents of African American Children Davis (PAACD), and featured professional Singer Jyvonne Haskin as well as video productions by DaVinci High School students.
Skylar Harris, a third year religious studies major, concluded the celebration by giving this year’s feature speech.
“Walk in grace,” Harris said. “Let it move you towards love and action, because that is how we get justice from our hearts to the community, then towards nations.”
Outside the theater, Raina Carr, an attendee, held her daughter in her arms while explaining her family’s connection with the Davis Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.
“My grandfather was a part of the [Selma Freedom] march […] His name was Terry Turner,” Carr said. “He was also very active in the Civil Rights Movement here in Davis. We’ve been coming here for a few years now, bringing the little ones and making sure the tradition lives on.”
Rachel Hartsough, arts and culture manager for the City of Davis, noted the significance of the event for the community as well as this year’s particularly large turnout.
“We put this event on every year to commemorate a person who we feel played a really important role in civil rights […] and maintaining strength in community,” Hartsough said. “This is a really huge turnout this year, because people are really feeling the disconnect from that right now.”
Out front of the Veterans Memorial Theater stood Alan Hirsch, also known as the Davis Lorax. Frequently found at the Saturday Davis Farmers Market selling his “Love your neighbor” signs, Hirsch spent the morning passing out heart shaped stickers to those entering the celebration.
Hirsch, wearing a green baseball cap that read “I [heart] trees,” echoed the loving, empowered sentiment of all others in attendance at the 32nd annual celebration.
“Davis is a beloved community; we have our struggles, we have our disagreements,” Hirsh said. “You can see it at [the Davis] City Council. But most of us speak from the heart and we get involved and we critique and we argue because we care about this community.”
As attendees of this year’s event prepared for their march to the Central Park Solidarity Space, Hirsch’s words came to mind.
“Love is a robust term,” Hirsch said. “Love is getting involved and caring because the opposite of love is not hate: it’s apathy.”
Written by: Piper Aweeka — city@theaggie.org
