BARRIO LOGAN (KGTV) — In honor of Black History Month, the San Diego Peace Coalition hosted an MLK event Saturday at Calvary Baptist Church, where Dr. King came and spoke over sixty years ago.
This year's MLK event promoted a specific theme called, "Harvesting the peace that was planted."
Dr. Kathleen Harmon picked the theme, and she is the CEO of the San Diego Peace Coalition.
Harmon said the 'harvests' her organization will focus on in 2025 are voting rights and youth education.
"We know that this is a crucial time that our education is trying to be robbed, and if we in the community are gonna be the one to holler the loudest and say 'no way', this is our constitutional right to have education for all of our children," Harmon said.
Harmon organized an essay contest about the history of Dr. King, and earlier this week, ABC 10News spoke to the winner Erika Womack, from Morse High School.
Womack accepted her award for her essay at the event on Saturday.
Harmon invited community members and vendors to celebrate on Saturday and showcase black history threw their businesses.
Vatrice George, who co-owns Creative Expressions with her mom, came to promote African fashion and beauty care products.
"So the clothing celebrates African culture, mostly West African and some pieces are from East Africa," George said. " This business is important because it allows me to celebrate my culture and also allow others to learn about my culture just by wearing a piece of clothing."
For Leroy McGee, who owns Smoke E-D's Barbeque, this year was the first time his family participated in the MLK event.
"Dr. King stood for a lot of folks, but more importantly, he stood for everyone, and the idea of celebrating the things that he did in his life to for me and my family, we certainly have to celebrate that.
McGee said his business is named after his mom and his mother-in-law.
"Both of our mothers were a great influence on cooking, and that's why we honored them by naming our company after them," McGee said.
Harmon also had San Diego Gospel Radio DJ at the event.
Larry Thompson, who goes by 'Preacher Man', said his selections were tailored toward Dr. King's movement.
"A lot of times people were not able to physically express what they were saying, but an artist would come along and take the feelings that people were feeling and put it in a song and put music to it," Thompson said. "So never underestimate the power of music to make a memory, or bring back a memory."
