Lodi to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr.
Breakthrough Project For Social Justice will host its 22nd annual Celebration of Unity at First United Methodist Church on Monday at noon.
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Breakthrough invites Lodians to share in the community diversity and celebrate the message shared by King. The event serves as a way to spread a message of tolerance and understanding for area residents who may face discrimination and hate.
The Breakthrough Project decided to host the annual MLK Celebration in an effort to bring the community together and recognize that diversity is a positive thing that should be celebrated.
This year the celebrations keynote speaker will be Kimberly Miller, who has been a positive influence in the Stockton and Lodi communities for over 20 years.
Miller has served in leadership roles at the Women’s Center, Leadership Stockton, and Quail Lakes Baptist Church, and she was recently awarded the Women Making a Difference Award from the Stockton Women’s Collaborative.
Winners of the Art Raab Memorial Essay Contest will also be announced during Monday’s celebration. The essay contest was open to fifthand sixth-graders in the Lodi Unified School District, who were asked to write about a topic relating to a theme selected by Breakthrough board members.
There will be live music, a word from Lodi Police Department Chief Tod Patterson, and this year’s Peacemaker award recipients will be recognized.
For more information about this event, visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BreakthroughProjectLodi.
In addition to Lodi’s celebration, the Stockton branch of the NAACP is hosting the inaugural Dr. Luther King Jr. 5K and 10K Walk and Run today at Dr. Martin Luther King Plaza, 2 E. Oak St., Stockton.
Founded Feb. 12, 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest grassroots civil rights organization, with more than half a million members and supporters throughout the United States and the world.
Since it was chartered in 1931, the Stockton Branch NAACP has provided free services through their volunteers to the Stockton/San Joaquin County community, including scholarship and educational initiatives, health programs targeting schools, and organizing communitywide events.
Individuals that attend today's event will have the choice of a 10K Run or 5K Run/Walk, on two flat, fast courses featuring lots of visibility for the runners of the field, ahead and behind them. The two courses will wind through downtown Stockton and Weber Point.
Registered walkers and runners will receive a commemorative technical T-shirt while supplies last, along with a custom finisher medal, pre-race refreshments, and a postrace box-lunch.
After the races, participants are encouraged to take part in the event’s after-race activities including yoga in the park, health screenings, fitness classes, healthy-eating demonstrations, and raffles.
Another event taking place in Stockton is the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at Stockton Civic Center led by Ministers and Community United Inc.
The two-day event begins Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Stockton Civic Center, 525 N. Center St., Stockton.
The event will include a keynote speech by Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, as well as a unity march beginning at 10 a.m. and youth program at 11 a.m.
To learn more about this event contact Ministers and Community United at 209-210-2951, or visit their website at