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# King’s legacy remembered
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/kings-legacy-remembered-2/
- Published: 2006-01-17T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:03:28.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Library auditorium dedicated to MLK*

SANTA MONICA LIBRARY — A Monday celebration recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. ended with a march to the new library auditorium that bears his name.

After hundreds of people heard Yolanda King speak at the Soka Gakkai International Ikeda Auditorium on Monday, they assembled outside its steps at 525 Wilshire Blvd. to march south on Sixth Street to the new Santa Monica Library at 601 Santa Monica Blvd.

There, the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium was dedicated to the man who led the American Civil Rights movement. Yolanda King and close friends and relatives led the march.

Outside the library, Mayor Bob Holbrook began the dedication by calling up to the stage all of the local officials who were participating in the event. They included local city, school and college officials, as well as Clyde Smith with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Westside Coalition, the group that organized the annual recognition of King’s legacy.

“Dr. King believed in a place for the community to gather as one,” Holbrook said.

Yolanda King, also among the speakers, said in her speech that her father was not a fan of monuments, which he felt were convenient ways to recognize heroes without necessarily heeding their message.

However, she said she respected what the library and auditorium would provide community members for years to come.

> “The library is the intellectual center of the community, and this auditorium is its heart.”

“My father wasn’t fond of monuments, but I think he would be happy with the opportunities here,” Yolanda King said.

City Councilman Richard Bloom said several city officials had been instrumental in pushing for the library’s auditorium to be named after King. Among them, Bloom said, was assistant manager Gordon Anderson.

With the new library opening in June, and Yolanda King already scheduled to speak in Santa Monica, officials said timing also helped secure the dedication to King.

Fataneh Eghbali, a Santa Monica resident and SMC professor, heard Yolanda King speak and took part in the march and dedication.

She said she felt strongly about King’s message and wanted to be with those who felt the same about it on his birthday.

“Yolanda is a great speaker, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to take part in such a great event,” Eghbali said.

After Mayor Holbrook and other officials spoke, the doors to the auditorium opened. Upon entrance, a black and white tapestry of King can be seen the right. To the left, set in stone, is a quote of his from his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Sweden, in 1964.

It reads, “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/011706-03_01.jpg)

(Photo: “As his dream has not been realized, and we are successors to his dream, each of us has to make the change occur, one mo)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/011706-03_03.jpg)

Santa Monica Mayor Bob Holbrook and Yolanda King on Monday unveil the new Martin Luther King Jr. (Photo: Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 17, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/011706.pdf?ref=smdp.com)