Breakthrough honors MLK with celebration of service
An event honoring and remembering the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was held in-person for the first time in three years Monday, focusing on service to the community.
The Breakthrough Project of Lodi hosted its annual Celebration of Unity at the First United Methodist Church, marking a milestone in the organization’s history.
“For the past 25 years on this federal holiday set aside to remember Dr. King, our community has taken the time to renew our commitment to a more just and inclusive Lodi,” Breakthrough Project member Barbara Krengel said.
“We persevere towards a day when all our people, regardless of economic status, ethnicity or identity have the opportunity to succeed, and I’ll say it, to be loved,” she said.
This year’s theme was “A Life of Service,” and was inspired by King’s quote that “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. All you need is a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love,” Krengel said.
This year’s keynote speaker was Tama Brisbane, Stockton’s first Poet Laureate, who said a life of service always comes with a price to pay, recalling an event in which she was asked to recite some of her work. That event was a counter-protest to a white pride celebration in Modesto, in which she recited a poem dedicated to the transgender community, with members of the Pride Boys “right in my face,” she said.
Brisbane said she did not hesitate to use her best “Slam Poetry” voice to recite her work that day.
“I have spent over two decades of my life dedicated to empowering young people and their voices through literary and performing arts,” she said. “And my favorite groups to work with, (are the) real mouthy ones. The ones with all the attitude. The eye rollers and the neck swivelers. because they’re the ones
that have been, or are being forged by fires they didn’t ask for, but give them incredibly powerful perspectives.”
Brisbane said her life of service has been dedicated to giving particularly marginalized youth a language in which they can be heard, adding they were society’s lucid dreamers, much like Dr. King was in his lifetime.
“I fervently believe his contention that what will ultimately save us all, are lucid dreamers who... above all live a life of service in the spirit of not adjusting to conditions of embolden division, discrimination, or oppression,” she said.
Lodi Police Department Capt. Eric VerSteeg said Breakthrough Project has been a “much-appreciated” resource for victims of hate crimes, and a great resource for combating hate and prejudice in the city.
The organization and the department have been partners for nearly 25 years, and he said there was no place for hate, bigotry or racism in Lodi.
VerSteeg said a volunteer once told him that the workplace is like a garden that is much more beautiful when the flowers are of different shapes, colors and sizes.
He said he found that sentiment to be beautiful and insightful, and something the Lodi Police Department embraces today.
Because this year is the Breakthrough Project’s 25th anniversary, two of the people who helped found the organization recalled what it was like to do so after a cross burning at Tokay High School decades ago.
Maria Elena Serna was a teacher at the time, and said that some 50 people gathered at attorney Randy Rosa’s office within an hour of the crime who were compelled to take action.
“So many people were coming, that we didn’t fit into the office,” she said. “I couldn’t believe the variety, the diversity of these people coming in. So we became a group of concerned Lodi citizens. We met, and when we got out of there, we were an organization that was not going to accept (or) tolerate any kind of racism, discrimination or prejudice in the city of Lodi.”
Since that time, Serna said, the Breakthrough Project has remained committed “for the good of society and the good of the community” to move forward and ensure everyone in Lodi has a voice, regardless of race, economical status or sexual orientation.
“We forget here in this organization that the cross burning occurred after the first Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration here in this town,” Rosa said. “Days later, a cross was burned at Tokay High School. My children had friends at (the high school). I knew parents, teachers. This was part of our town. I was infuriated. So were the people of this town. We organized, we met. It was amazing group of people.”
Rosa admitted that as a young man, he was a racist, bigot and homophobe, and has spent much of his life atoning for his past transgressions.
He said people of all faiths, races and occupations attended that first meeting 25 years ago, and it was a moment of which he was proud to be a part.
“From that, grew this movement,” he said. “This time we will change and Lodi will not be what it was. And we aren’t.”
Peacemakers recognized
This year, four organizations and individuals were honored for their service in the Lodi community in 2022, including Inner City Action, the Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival Board, Tony Segale and Akiliah Mills.
Inner City Action was recognized for helping the City of Lodi start a temporary homeless shelter on North Sacramento Street last summer while the access center is being designed and built.
The Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival Board was honored for hosting the annual event for 24 years, including two which were virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Segale was recognized for designing and painting the “Cycles of Suffrage” mural commemorating the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The mural, which adorns the exterior was of the World of Wonders Science Museum and Downtown Lodi parking garage, represents voting rights achievements of women from both the years 1920 and 1965.
Mills, who was named director of the Lodi Public Library last January, was honored for her service to the underserved and underprivileged communities for 26 years. Speaking to the News-Sentinel last year, Mills said libraries were socially-economically diverse, involve all age groups, and give people access to information that can change their lives.