22nd Mother Lode Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Sonora, CA — The annual Mother Lode Martin Luther King Jr. celebration was held Sunday afternoon in the Sonora High School Auditorium.

Dr. Mimi Kim, Assistant Professor of Social Work at CSU Long Beach, was the keynote speaker. Kim spoke on the topic of Restorative and Transformative Justice. She spoke about how current interventions to domestic and sexual violence originated and why she feels there is a need for community based alternatives to criminal justice responses. The celebration of Dr. King featured music provided by Dennis Brown, Michelle Allison and the Summerville High School Jazz @ 8.  The invocation was given by Mark Dyken and there was a poetry reading from Levi Lowe. There was also special recognition given to Jay Bell and Sylvia Roberts. Sunday marked the 22nd year of the annual event.

In honor of today being Martin Luther King Jr. Day, most government offices, including courts, the DMV, and the post offices, are closed. Banks are also closed and schools are not in session.