Culver City celebrates, reflects on MLK Day

Culver City held its official 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration on Saturday, January 17, at the Veterans Memorial Center. The event served as both a celebration of his legacy and a venue to reflect on what his words mean today. Among those to make opening remarks were Culver City Mayor Freddy Puza and Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, who represents Culver City and other nearby cities in the California State Senate.

“He reminded us that true progress unfolds when we come together to live with each other,” Smallwood-Cuevas said of Dr. King during her remarks Saturday.

The 3-hour event held Saturday mainly consisted of musical performances alongside short speeches related to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. One of those performances came from a source close to home, as the Culver City Middle School Choir performed several songs for the audience at the Veterans Memorial Center’s Auditorium.

Between the musical performances was a keynote speech by Dr. Scot Brown, a professor of African American Studies and History at UCLA. His speech focused on encouraging people to “Count King in” when discussing solutions to modern race relations issues.

He also called on the audience to consider how they view King’s legacy. Brown commented that many people “freeze” Dr. King’s legacy in 1963, when he gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. The UCLA professor argued that it is important consider the theorizing, organizing, and strategizing that he led as the means to make his dreams a reality.

“Let’s not confuse his visionary objectives with the distinctive ways he meant to accomplish them,” Brown said.

He argued that lawmakers have already done this, but for the wrong reasons. Brown argues that in some cases, Dr. King’s message has been twisted in a way to justify harmful decisions in the name of race-blindness, such as the push to eliminate affirmative action.

“Dr. King’s words were about the outcomes he hoped to see,” Brown said. “They are not a policy statement.”

After Brown’s speech, several short concerts were performed by professional musicians, with attendees encouraged to dance on the auditorium floor. Among them was Soul and R&B performer MAJOR, who was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2019 and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Gospel/Christian Song.

The final performance came from Roots and Thunder, a reggae band composed of six members with diverse roots. While several of its members originally hail from Belize, other members trace their roots to Jamaica, The Virgin Islands, and Ohio. Their message, rooted in religious inspiration, shares many similarities with Dr. King's.

“This music and dance of reggae delivers the message they live by,” a presentation on Roots and Thunder to the MLK/Juneteenth Celebration Committee states. “Providing inspiration and support to each other, resulting in a band whose vibe is rapidly reaching others and growing stronger.”

In the Rotunda Room — adjacent to the main auditorium — Artist Laureate Victoria Marks gathered interested community members to create an art piece called Moving Words based on the spoken message Dr. King shared. Members of the community were recorded reciting one of the many memorable quotes from Dr. King’s time in the public eye. A series of poster boards also created a presentation on the evolution of civil rights and voting rights, and how the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) could set those efforts back.