SeeCalifornia.com

Each year on the third Monday in January some 2.5 million African Americans in California celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. legacy (see MLK Celebrations!) Pictured is the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir at the annual “Musical Tribute Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” California is home to some who actually knew and worked with King, including Rev. James Lawson.

What was King’s ties with California before he was assassinated nearly 47 years ago? The clergyman who promoted peace visited Los Angeles after the Watts Riots in 1965. Five days of rioting after the arrest of 21-year-old Marquette Frye for driving under the influence resulted in “the death of 34 Negroes and injury to thousands more,” said Dr. King, who believed the riots were the result of socio-economic conditions and not race issues. He constantly received death threats for speaking out about equality and told his wife Coretta after the 1963 JFK assassination: “This is what is going to happen to me also.” He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, but remains an inspiration to those who honor him in California and remember his famous words: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”