KEEPING KING'S DREAM, MESSAGE ALIVE CIVIL-RIGHTS PIONEER TO BE SPEAKER AT SIMI VALLEY OBSERVANCE MONDAY.Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. -- A pioneer in the civil-rights movement will speak Monday at a community celebration in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. at Simi Valley Second Missionary Baptist Church. Agnes Sankey McClain was 12 years old in 1955 when her cousin, Rosa Parks Noun 1. Rosa Parks - United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama) and so triggered the national Civil Rights movement (born in 1913) Parks , refused to give up her seat to a white bus passenger in Montgomery, Ala., which led King to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a mass protest by African American citizens in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, against Segregation policies on the city's public buses. It was nine years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would change the nation forever. . Throughout her life, McClain was a close friend of Parks, who died in October 2005 and was known as the mother of the modern civil-rights movement. McClain, who joined Parks and King in the early protests, had a front-row seat to history as she grew up in Montgomery. ``I was there. I experienced what it was like to sit in the back of a bus,'' she said, recalling how surprised she and other members of her family were when Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat. ``We were in shock when this happened,'' she said. ``It was so unlike her. She was a quiet spirit. It's just amazing how it turned this society around.'' Martin Luther King Day is a holiday observed across the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. on or near the anniversary of King's birth on Jan. 15, 1929. The Simi Valley event at 11 a.m. Monday will feature reflections on King by McClain and the Rev. Willie Mack Gray, pastor of the church at 1063 Pacific Ave. McClain said her cousin became an inspiration for many, including King. ``I think her act inspired him,'' she said. ``I think it was a turning point for him.'' McClain lives in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and is assistant to Bishop Dean Nelson in the Southwest Synod office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Evangelical Lutheran Church can refer to many different Lutheran churches in the world. Among them are the following:
Both she and Gray said children today need to know more abut To reach; to touch. To touch at the end; be contiguous; join at a border or boundary; terminate on; end at; border on; reach or touch with an end. The term abutting implies a closer proximity than the term adjacent. King, the conditions he faced and his struggle, which eventually made him an international hero. American children know that Martin Luther King Day is a holiday, but some don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. the history behind it. Gray also said he feels there still is not enough attention given to black history in American schools. ``We're trying to keep the light and legacy of this great man alive by passing it from one generation to the next,'' he said of the Monday's celebration. And he said the Simi Valley congregation was grateful for the chance to meet McClain. ``To have someone so closely connected to the civil-rights movement come here to speak is very special to us and this community,'' he said. eric.leach@dailynews.com (805) 583-7602 |
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