A student speaker at last year's breakfast recites one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speeches. Press file photo
But for some, this upcoming Monday morning is not for hitting the snooze button, but for celebrating a culture and honoring a legacy.
On Jan. 18, the Black Student Unions from Tracy’s high schools will host the 14th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast at the Tracy Community Center.
This year, the Tracy tradition honors King — the renowned activist, speaker and minister who was assassinated 42 years ago — three days after what would have been his 81st birthday.
The celebration usually draws about 200 from the community for a feast of bacon, eggs, grits and biscuits.
Students from Kimball, Stein, Tracy and West High schools will sing, share poems and recite King’s speeches.
Shirley Everett, Stanford University’s senior associate vice provost for residential and dining enterprises, is the guest speaker.
Everett, who lives in Tracy, will speak on this year’s theme, “Strive for Greatness.”
The Tracy African American Association will honor member Mishelle Neverson with the MLK Image Award.
Neverson works tirelessly to chair the group’s Juneteenth Festival, while being a parent, working full-time in the Bay Area and studying for an MBA, according to the group’s president, Howard Baker Jr.
Lesley Jenkins, president of West High School’s Black Student Union, said it’s important to give respect to a civil rights leader who opened countless doors.
Jenkins, a sophomore, said the group’s 35 students do community service and attend conferences with other Black Student Unions in the state.
At a glance
• WHAT: 14th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast
• WHEN: 8:30 to 11 a.m. Monday
• WHERE: Tracy Community Center, 950 East St.
• COST: $8 at the door
• INFO: Audrey Harrison, 830-3370, ext. 2010
Let's not make Tracy sound any worse than it already does.
Can't we all just get a loan?
For those who believe one ethnic group (i.e Mexicans, Jews etc.) had it worse off than the other; try educating yourself before you speak. If you CAN read, try picking up the book "Slavery By Another Name". That's if your ignorance allows you to do so.
I thought Tracy was a great town up until I read this post....very disheartening.
But you know what? I pay my property taxes like the rest of you biggots and therefore, I'm not going anywhere unless it's voluntary.
Have a great day! :)
:)
I can't believe they gave you a license. I hope the TPD will be going to the TP and requesting your email to review your permit after such comments.
Glad to see the beautiful people of Tracy have a sense of Humor.
I think you can expand on your comments a bit. Not only are there African American's who carry racisim to the boiling point, there are also Causasian's who match their hatred. How about the head of the KKK, can't remember his name but then that's a good thing, or the Rev Phelps from the midwest, to name a few. To say it's only black American's causing trouble is shortsighted, to say the least.
"If you can't take it, don't dish it out."
It means that, whatever you do to someone else, you should be willing to have it happen to you.
Wow, doors17, we do have a long way to go. People are definitley taught to hate. It's sick.
It doesn't matter which group is doing the stereotyping against those who don't have the same skin color as they do. All sides are guilty of this, and as long as it exist nothing will be solved and nothing will change.
Bigotry proves that your not born to hate, your taught to hate.
Every year, the same stuff, the information has never changed, nor will it ever change. We get it, WE GET IT!
Wouldn't it be a little more memorable if we didn't celebrate this him every single year?
Why isn't Abraham Lincoln celebrated more? Didn't he free the slaves?
It seems that the Blacks get more and more air time to celebrate all their stuff and the Whites get less and less attention. Not to mention the Mexicans who somehow turned out to be treated worse than the Blacks.
THe Jews had it a hundred fold worse than the Blacks. And slavery was first introduced in... wait for it... AFRICA! They're just mad the white people beat them at their game. Lol. I'm kidding. But seriously, the Jews have had it so much worse and for so much longer.
A few hundred though blacks were slaves? Boo hoo. Several million Jews were burned, tortured, and gassed to death. Slaves were just not paid. The Jews just took and brushed it off. There's no "Jewish history month" there's no "Anne Frank Birthday" celebrated.
What's that about?
May God bless Dr. King. The man may be gone but his dream of equality for all is something no assassins bullet can stop if we don't allow it.