Pittsburg will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day beginning Saturday with a series of events spotlighting a pair of issues organizers say are fundamental to the civil rights hero's legacy: the need for continued, growing awareness of HIV and AIDS, and "protecting our women and children."
First up is a spoken word contest Saturday night at 564 W. 10th St. Beginning at 6 p.m., participants will be invited to compete for cash prizes in two categories: an open division in which anybody may enter, and a division for high school students only. The open division will ask speakers to address the protection theme, while high school students are asked to tackle HIV and AIDS in their performances.
The winners will join in the full public celebration Monday. It's planned to begin with a rally outside City Hall (on the freeway-facing side) at 11:15 a.m., followed shortly by a rain-or-shine march to Marina Vista Elementary School, about a mile away. A full program starts at noon, including dancers, the spoken word contest winners and author Marvelyn Brown, a 27-year-old Tennessee native who discovered at the age of 19 that, despite being in a monogamous relationship, she was HIV-positive. She's become a globe-traveling advocate for awareness of the affliction and support for those who have it, winning an Emmy in 2007 for Outstanding National PSA and numerous other honors.
Event organizer and Pittsburg resident Gregory Osorio says that when it comes to supporting people with the most serious need, "The village is failing miserably at this point. That's not an indictment of out community; it's not a Pittsburg problem. It's an indictment of our whole country. We have to quit waiting for the cavalry to come. We are cavalry."
Osorio is organizing the celebration partly in the name of his outreach group, Souljahs. For more information on the group or the upcoming events, call 925-432-0989.
Contact Sean Maher at 925-779-7189.
