Half a century after marches advocated the societal change sought in the civil rights movement, members of the EMA Youth Choir and MLK Praise Dancers on Monday spent part of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at San Juan Oaks enthusiastically waving placards quoting the civil rights leader. Singing freedom songs with which their great-grandparents may have been familiar, their placards featured famous King statements such as, “The time is always right to do the right thing.”
The early-morning commemorative civil rights march was the opening scene for the sixth annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Breakfast held in celebration of MLK Day. The kids symbolically marched along the road leading to the golf clubhouse where they were met by members of the Calpulli Itzapapaloti Danza Azteca, a pre-Columbian Azteca dance group from San Juan Bautista. This was followed by a prayer dance and ceremony between the group’s founder, Nena Sanchez and Elvira Zaragoza Robinson, president of the board of directors for Community Fellowship Center (CFC), the nonprofit organization that sponsored the event.
Afterwards, a sell-out crowd of some 200 joined the celebration with breakfast, speakers, silent auction, songs and presentations in support of CFC.
Benitolink interviewed Robinson at her Fourth Street law office, where CFC is also located. She explained the history and purpose of the year-old nonprofit.
“We focus on low-income families, one family at a time,” she said, adding that CFC provides food and clothing to families, as well as legal counsel for domestic violence cases. “We have a leadership program and a technology program for youth. We also work with the court system and probation.”
Robinson said CFC developed a pilot program for kids, providing college mentors who teach technology and youth leadership skills. In addition to the Martin Luther King Leadership Breakfast, CFC sponsors events throughout the year to provide food and assistance.
“We’re just getting started, but we already serve around 100 families,” she said. “In February, we will begin feeding low-income families every Friday here at the center. We just filled the freezer of the domestic violence shelter with meat, and I’m reaching out to the labor camp and homeless shelters to provide meat.”
Robinson said one of the center’s board members buys the meat and donates it, which is a common occurrence for the nonprofit, which up until now has been more or less self-funded by its board members.
“We’ve only been in existence for about a year,” she said. “We have a lot of gifted and generous people on our board of directors. We also have silent donors. One woman donated $12,000 so we could get our laptops for our leadership program. And we will begin writing grants soon.”
The first MLK Breakfast was the idea of Pastor Gerald E. Harris, lead pastor of Bethany Church. Robinson and other church members have organized the event for five years.
“Some of us from the church wanted to create a nonprofit so we could start applying for grants,” she said. “We stepped away from the church to become a nonprofit. This group is made up of some people from the church and volunteers from the community. It’s our sixth MLK breakfast, but the first sponsored by the Community Fellowship Center.”
Robinson said it was the center’s executive director, ShaRon Mills’,idea to stage the civil rights march reenactment in order to teach the youngsters the historical background of the event.
“To me, what’s important is we have to fight for our rights for equality,” Robinson said. “Dr. King stood not as a black man, he stood for the equality of all people so that we can be treated with respect in our lives and in our judicial system. You have to stand up for what you believe. If you have an issue, don’t be silent. Do something about it.”
Robinson said the youthful members of the choir would be involved in running the breakfast.
“One of our kids (Monique Hollis) has been with us for six years and she’s going to welcome everyone, and another youth (Victor Phillips, Jr.) will do the opening prayer,” she said. “Another youth (Stefan Mercer), who is in college now, is going to sing the national anthem.”
A youth choir performed a musical tribute to two grandmothers and a great-grandmother who had been instrumental in starting the organization and had passed away in 2015. The youngsters even renamed the choir as the EMA Youth Choir, for their last names, to honor them.
Certificates of appreciation were presented to several individuals who have supported the organization for the past six years.
“The first one is Jim Gibson, who owns Windmill Market in San Juan Bautista, Hollister Super and Baler Market,” Robinson said. “He’s a generous man and no matter what I’m involved in I can call Jim and he donates. I’ve asked him for six years to donate a table so these kids can come free.”
“We have six people who donated six tables for the kids. Frank Rivera, of Eight Ball Bail Bonds, has done it since the beginning. All I need to do is give him a call. The third one is a long-time friend of mine, Rolanda Pierre Dixon. She’s a retired district attorney for 30 years for Santa Clara County. She was our first keynote speaker and has been with us all six years. She trains all of the sheriffs and police in Santa Clara County on domestic violence law and she’s instrumental in all the legal work for victims of domestic violence. Pastor Gerald E. Harris will be honored as a visionary. He called me one day and said he wanted me to do a Martin Luther King breakfast. I’m the worker. He’s the visionary.”
Additional tables were donated by Jaime Rosso, Rosso’s Furniture, Tara Stein, Fred and Judy Winn, Artega’s Grocery Center, and Michael Rodriquez, and Mars Metal.
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