MLK Celebration Train canceled; other holiday events move online
After the year we’ve had, the message and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. seems more important than ever. And though South Bay celebrations for Martin Luther
King Jr. Day on Monday will continue, they’ll be in a different form than we’re used to.
To begin with, the MLK Celebration Train that takes people from San Jose’s Diridon Station to the NorCalMLK march in San Francisco each year has been canceled, as has the march. Caltrain says it’ll have its modified holiday hours, but the special train — a tribute to the 54-mile 1965 Selmato-Montgomery march — and its commemorative tickets won’t be part of the holiday this year. Caltrain intends to bring it back for 2022, assuming the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided to safe levels.
• The African American Community Service Agency in San Jose will host its 41st annual MLK Luncheon via Zoom at noon Monday. This year’s program, themed In the Presence of Justice, will feature a keynote address by journalist Roland M. Martin and a moderated discussion with social justice leader Tamika D. Mallory. Of course, you’ve got to provide your own lunch at home, but you can buy tickets for the online program starting at $10 at sjaacsa.org/mlk/ luncheon.
• STAND! 2021, a Day of Art and Solidarity will present virtually workshops and performances by artists reflecting values of tolerance, inclusion and diversity. Presented by the School of Arts & Culture, with the Mulitcultural Arts Leadership Institute and Mosaic Silicon Valley, the free event includes workshops on folklórico dance, Indian dance and Scottish country dancing, as well as a poetry workshop. You can register at bit.ly/STAND_2021.
• The cities of Palo Alto and East Palo Alto will mark the holiday with an online event Monday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., which will include messages from the mayors of both communities and a youth panel about systemic racism hosted by the Palo Alto High School Black Scholars United. You can register for the Zoom event at youthcommunityservice.org/mlk-day.
TITANS OF TRIVIA >> A couple of Bellarmine College Prep grads have had good showings on TV game shows this week. James Hill III, a 2009 grad, defeated famed “Jeopardy” champ Ken Jennings in the U.S. premiere of a new quiz show called “The Chase.” Meanwhile, 2011 alum Tanay Kothari was on “Jeopardy” for two nights, appearing on shows that had Jennings as guest host.
Not surprisingly, both Hill and Kothari are veterans of Bellarmine’s Quiz Bowl team, which is still going strong. The Jesuit boys school in San Jose sent two teams to the California Cup Quiz Bowl tournament, which took place virtually last month, taking first and seventh place in the standard division. Sophomore Richard Lin was the top-scoring individual in the division, so I can imagine he’ll be bedeviling Jennings in about 10 years.
SPICING THINGS UP >> It has been a strange year for Harold Martin. A musician and one of San Jose’s most beloved bartenders, Martin — like so many other artists — hasn’t had a live music gig in nearly a year, and he has been benched from bartending for the first time in 36 years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the Rock-It line of salsas he created as a side gig somehow has gained a lot of traction. The three varieties are being sold at Lunardi’s markets, Deluxe Foods in Aptos, Mac’s Smoke Shop in Palo Alto and Antipasto Deli by DeRose and Joseph
George Fine Wines in San Jose. Martin says he has Rock-It hot sauce coming this spring, too.
Besides the flavor, Martin pegs his success to the relationships he has built over the years, helping customers network. “That’s what 36 years of being around good people will do for a guy like me,” he said.