Sonoma SERVES hosts the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Poetry Night, kicking off a weekend of events honoring Dr. King from 6-8:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12 in the Elsie Allen High School auditorium, 599 Bellevue Ave., Santa Rosa. Admission is free and all are invited to attend.
"For children today, faced with growing gang violence, the message of Dr. King is all the more relevant," says Julie McClure of Sonoma SERVES.
The event commences with guest speaker Rev.James E. Coffee from the Community Baptist Church. Coffee marched with Dr. King and has been recognized for his contributions to human rights and community education throughout Sonoma County and beyond.
Hundreds of children from Santa Rosa elementary schools will read poetry, sing songs, and perform skits based on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s powerful message of non-violent social change.
In preparation for this event, students in seven Santa Rosa schools (Bellevue, Kawana, Meadow View, Roseland, Sheppard, R.L. Stevens, and Wright Schools have been learning about the life of Dr. King, and of his teachings and values.
They have also studied the civil rights movement and those who were a part of it. Students from the Sonoma SERVES after school, reading tutoring, and family literacy programs have developed poetry, artwork, theater and song to express their own feelings about issues of race, equality, freedom and non-violence.
On the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, students will gather to share their ideas with family, friends and members of the community. Along with their AmeriCorps mentors, over 200 students, grades one through eight, will perform on stage to express their thoughts.
Sonoma SERVES is a program of the California Institute on Human Services at Sonoma State University whose mission is to connect the resources of the University to community need. Sonoma SERVES partners with local schools to involve college student AmeriCorps members in after school, family literacy, and reading tutoring programs.
For further information, contact Emily Mann, California Institute on Human Services, (707) 664-3956 or emily.mann@sonoma.edu.
NOTE TO MEDIA: Rev. James E. Coffee will be available to talk about the significance of this and other MLK events happening throughout the community.
