Lawyers and the Legal Community Are Asked to Step Up to the Plate at the Annual Martin Luther King Celebration Dinner

On Saturday, January 11, 2003, from 6 to 9 p.m., the Sacramento legal community will demonstrate its commitment to furthering the Dream of Equality preached by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Dinner at the Sacramento Convention Center.

The MLK Celebration Dinner was organized four years ago by U.S. Representative and longtime SCBA member Robert Matsui, recently retired United State Marshall Jerry Enomoto, and his wife Dorothy, who grew up and went to school with Dr. King at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Enomotos have taken the lead in nurturing the event through its infancy, with each successive dinner drawing more community participation and attendance. Congressman Matsui continues to assist and, as in years past, he will present a Community Service Award named in his honor.

The 2003 MLK Celebration Dinner promises to be the best ever, in part because the Enomotos and Congressman Matsui have reached out to the legal community. In response, lawyers, law professors, judges, bar associations, and law schools are working together to make it so. Recognizing that the legal profession has a duty to promote widespread, public knowledge of how to preserve the cherished civil liberties due every American citizen, the Sacramento County Bar Association has agreed to co-sponsor the event.

The theme of the dinner is "The Dream Continues." It will memorialize the courage and determination of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, a lawyer, to break the color barrier in major league baseball. The intention to recall and honor the courage of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey during the dinner is timely. During game four of the 2002 World Series, Major League Baseball announced that the courageous teamwork of Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson was among the 10 greatest moments in the history of the game.

Youth Outreach
In addition to honoring the work of Dr. King, Robinson and Rickey, another goal of the dinner is to speed the timeless message of inspiration, hope and tolerance that Dr. King preached throughout his life. Unfortunately, most will agree that Dr. King's vision of harmony has neither reached some of our nation's people at all, nor been fully achieved by many others. The 2003 MLK Celebration Dinner can help change that, especially if significant numbers of young people are able to come and hear and see for themselves how countless adults are trying to model their lives more closely after Dr. King's dream. To that end, lawyers and judges, together with employers and labor groups, are responding to the call to help many young people attend the dinner at no cost.

For instance, lawyers representing the criminal defense community have already raised enough to sponsor the attendance of dozens of high school students at the event. The leaders of this effort Fern Laethem, Executive Director of Conflict Criminal Defenders, George Bond, Executive Director of the Central California Appellate Project, Paulino Duran, the Public Defender of Sacramento County, Barry Melton, the Public Defender of Yolo County, and Jay Colangelo, Chief Assistant State Public Defender. (Editor note: see letter)

In addition, a number of individual attorneys have quietly donated thousands of dollars to purchase tickets for a broad cross-section of high school students to attend. As of early December, sponsorships for well over 20 tables of 10 had been secured.

John Lewis to Keynote
Just as Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson worked together to transform the game of baseball, Robinson, in turn, worked to advance civil rights with both Dr. King and Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who will be the keynote speaker at the dinner.

Lewis is an historic figure in his own right, having endured many of the same abuses encountered by Dr. King and Robinson. Described as "one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," Congressman Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing personal dignity, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community." His ethical standards and sense of morality have earned the admiration of many throughout the nation for decades.

River Cats to Retire Robinson's Number
Dean Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker and Professor Clark Kelso of McGeorge School of Law are working with a number of remarkable people to further enhance the serious public education and outreach program of the MLK Celebration Dinner. For instance, they will present a portion of the program in conjunction with the Sacramento River Cats, the local franchise in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The River Cats are scheduled to retire Jackie Robinson's jersey and number at the dinner. Coincidentally, Branch Rickey's son is president of the Pacific Coast League and a representative of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. He will attend the dinner and assist in the retirement ceremony.

Tygiel's Book
All those in attendance also will receive a copy of a special printing of the highly regarded book by San Francisco State University Professor Jules Tygiel, Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy (Oxford University Press (1997)), and a copy of the award winning article by Professor Stephen Norwood of the University of Oklahoma and Harold Brackman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Going to Bat for Jackie Robinson, The Jewish Role in Breaking Baseball's Color Barrier (Journal of Sport History (1999) 26(1): 115-141.) Of Tygiel's book, Congressman Matsui reports that it is "more than a wonderful baseball book, it is also a valuable historical document."

Chief Justice Ronald M. George has authored a preface that will appear in each of the 1,000 copies of Tygiel's work. Associate Justice Janice Rogers Brown will assist with the ceremony retiring Jackie Robinson's number. Countless other judges are contributing to making the dinner a success as well, and almost all of the judicial officers in the area have committed to attending.

In short, lawyers in Sacramento are responding to the call to elevate the MLK Celebration Dinner into an event of national proportion. When you are contacted, please respond generously, or make an independent donation by calling the Bar Association Office at 448-1087.