BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Community members came out to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and one Bakersfield native was honored for carrying his spirit.
- Bakersfield community honored Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy with a special event at BC.
- Katie Johnson, former Bakersfield College student, received an award for her community contributions in MLK's honor.
- The celebration included a breakfast at Bakersfield College and a march starting at St. Peter Church.
- Local vendors and the community participated in the MLK March, reinforcing the commitment to King's legacy.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Former Bakersfield College student awarded for community contributions.
A breakfast at Bakersfield College to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King as speakers shared his everlasting impact.
As community members from non-profits and Bakersfield College staff who are communty leaders, Katie Johnson a former Bakersfield College student now a UC San Deigo student was nominated by the community for her actions and awarded based on her contributions to
Johnson tells me, "I don't care if I'm serving to elders, going to gardens planting, giving stuff to anybody, just anything I can get my hands on is just community service."
Katie Johnson was able to get 3 associates of arts degrees in high school, a leader being one of the first African American ASB presidents at Highland High School, and has received the president's volunteer award for fifteen hundred hours of community service.
"Not just him but all of the people that came before me who look just like me knowing that they could not even sit at the same table as people don't look like them knowing that they fought for me to be in that space gets me up every single day."
As she tells me, her inspiration is Dr. Martin Luther King as they also share the same birthday.
"I think that MLK is like one of my biggest inspirations. It's also because we were born on the same day, January 15th, so everybody's always made that connection about us."
The festivities continued as local vendors set up for the annual MLK March at St. Peter Church and after, many community members marched to honor his fight for equality.
Those in the community tell me that they are working towards continuing Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy by expanding the MLK committee.
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