> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Santa Monica honors legacy - URL: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-honors-legacy/ - Published: 2007-01-16T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T23:49:54.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Civil rights leader’s message revived for a new generation* WILSHIRE BOULEVARD “We have overcome.” Away from the bitter cold temperature outside on a mid-January morning, away from the horrors of war and genocide overseas, hundreds of people filled the Soka Gakkai World Culture Auditorium on Monday, finding warmth and comfort in the words of the late Martin Luther King Jr. “Non-violence is absolute commitment to the way of love,” the civil rights leader said in 1957.“Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one’s whole being into the being of another.” On what would have been Dr. King’s 78th birthday, local and state officials and members of the community honored the civil rights leader, reflecting on his principles of equality and peace and applying his Mahatma Gandhi-inspired message of nonviolence to current events. Regarded as one of Southern California’s largest holiday celebrations, the event — co-sponsored by Westside Coalition, the city of Santa Monica and Santa Monica College Associates — drew a host of current and former local politicians including Council members Bob Holbrook and Bobby Shriver, former Santa Monica Mayor Nat Trives, State Assemblywoman Julia Brownley and State The diverse audience seemed to embody the goal that King worked so hard to achieve. During a musical performance by the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church Choir in West Hollywood, the audience — young and old, black and white, Christians and Jews — joined hands, singing along to a current rendition of “We Shall Overcome,”now titled,“We Have Overcome.” If King was alive today, he would not be able to stay silent about the current state of affairs, particularly about the United States’ involvement in the Middle East, according to keynote speaker Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr., the professor of religion and the dean of the International Chapel at Morehouse College, where King graduated in 1948. Carter became the first dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel in 1979\. He is also an adjunct professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine. “Tomorrow is today, and today is forever,” Carter said, adding that the actions of today will affect what happens tomorrow. The country is in a troubled state of affairs because the “American business and government marginalize people and put profit at the center,” Carter said. The United States must lead by example, he said. If the country is promoting peace, then its officials must be peaceful. Carter criticized Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush, calling the former a “secretary of war” who is articulate and “dangerous,” drawing a applause from the audience. In regards to Bush, Carter said “you reap what you sow and what you have done to others will be done to you.” Carter talked about how King “agonized” about whether he should speak out against the Vietnam War, fearing he would have to turn his back against President Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. King decided to speak out, decided that he could not “segregate his moral conscience,” Carter said. Carter told the story of how he found out about King’s death. It was April 4, 1968, and Carter was watching a play with his wife-tobe at Boston University, where he was involved in the Christian ministry. During the middle of the play, which coincidentally was about the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Carter saw the dean rise from his seat with a distraught look on his face. He followed the dean outside where he found out what had happened — King had been shot in Memphis and died about 30 minutes earlier. “I knew my life would never be the same,” he said. September Hill and her husband brought their 4-and 2-year-old daughters to Monday’s event, intent on showing the elder daughter, who is learning about King in her preschool class, that the legacy and history of the civil rights leader is for real. “We have the same values as King, that it’s important to love one another and to be peaceful,” Hill said. “We can have different viewpoints while getting along for the common good.” Long after the event was over and most of the audience had dispersed, several people sat back in reflection. “I am truly inspired,” said Santa Monica resident Cindy McQuade, while sitting in her seat after the event.“I seek to be a peacemaker myself.” McQuade contends she is a believer and advocate of non-violence, at a time when the rest of the world seems to have forgotten King’s message. She was a junior high school student in New York when King was murdered.Times were different back then, she said, and though schools are desegregated and people are more accepting of diversity, racial injustice still exists. “I’m here to unite with like-minded people,” she said. “I am reminded not to give up and live with compassion and reach out to those in different cultures.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 16, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/011607.pdf?ref=smdp.com)