MLK Day: 10th Annual Celebration: Theme: “Now is the time to be the change.”

This year’s theme was a combination of two quotes, one from Dr. King and one from the man who inspired King’s philosophy of non-violence, Mahatma Gandhi.

"We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial injustice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children."

-Excerpt from the “ I Have a Dream” speech, August 38, 1963 in Washington D.C.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

-Mahatma Ghandi

This years prompt for MLK day participation: Write a poem or an essay expressing your own thoughts on this year’s theme: “Now is the time to be the change.”

OR answer one of these questions: What change do you wish to see in the world? What do you think Gandhi meant when he chose the words, “be the change?” Why do we still feel the “urgency of Now” today, 47 years after King’s speech? What can you do as an individual to “be the change”? What can we do together as a society to “be the change”?

Past MLK Day Sponsors:

  • Washington Mutual Bank
  • Ojai Unified School District
  • Tell the Truth Pictures
  • Ojai Valley Board of Realtors
  • Angela and Anthony Ocone
  • City of Ojai Arts Commission
  Gus Hoffman and Kenzie Russell, NHS
seniors, headed up our 2009/2010 MLK Jr. Day
youth & adult planning committee.


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Local business supporters of OVYF: Ojai Valley News, Ojai Unified School District, Jersey Mikes' Subs, Ojai Valley Athletic Club, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, Jim n' Robs, Ojai Pizza

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