By Dianne Anderson

Drummers will soon hit the streets with the beats, with glitz, glitter, whirlers and twirlers, step teams and marching bands suiting up and shining the brass.

From all corners of San Bernardino, there’s plenty of fun to be had at the 6th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, featuring 22 SBCUSD schools and participating bands tuning and turning up the volume.

Vendors will also buy and sell some of the hottest merch around, including tasty eats.

“It’s a win-win,” she said. “It is great because local businesses and business owners, entrepreneurs have a chance to actually come out and participate as vendors and be able to showcase their brand. It’s a great collaboration,” said Lue Dowdy, Founder of LUE Productions.

On January 19, she said the community will feel the star power as Brian Hooks takes the stage as parade Grand Marshal. Hooks is an acclaimed actor, comedian, and director known for his box-office hit roles in Soul Plane, 3 Strikes, and Eve.

The parade runs from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at YouthBuild Inland Empire, located at 624 W. 4th Street, San Bernardino. Following, the Extravaganza is hosted by Comedian Anthony Stone, along with announcers Mac Rome and Tawnya Rhoades-Hensley.

Also at the extravaganza, cultural displays, an art walk, live entertainment, youth activities, music, and dance take center stage.

Held in conjunction with LUE Productions and Community Umbrella Services, the “United for the Dream, the Power of Unity, Together We Rise” theme builds on several long-standing community partnerships focused on service.

Since starting the parade, Dowdy said First 5 San Bernardino and Sheikh Shoes have been strong supporters in bringing resources to families in need. YouthBuild IE, Southern California Black Chamber leadership, participating churches, and community groups help pull it all together.

“Definitely YouthBuild is a good resource for the city of San Bernardino and they do a lot of great work in partnering and collaborating with entities,” she said, adding that their involvement helps with meetings, planning, and coming together to make the event successful.

Volunteers are needed, and they will not get bored.

“Giving back, we open it up to volunteers to set up, break down, help with information about the parade, roadblocks, there’s plenty to do,” she said.

Before the parade, on Saturday, January 17, she said the community is invited to attend the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service Awards Gala Dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn for an elegant evening honoring faith-based leaders, with live entertainment, a catered dinner, and tributes to those making a difference in the community.

Among the many community honorees are Pastor Ray Turner of Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Pastor Samuel J. Casey of Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), Rev. Bronica Martin of the Unspeakable Praise and Worship Team, and Kersaundra Hall of The Church Lounge.

President of the Southern California Black Chamber of Commerce, Rich Wallace, said getting back to basics with the MLK Parade is important.

In the early days, a big part of Dr. King’s dream had to do with community equity, economic justice, security, food and jobs for those in poverty, and taking a strong stand against the war.

Wallace was pulled out of college into Vietnam after Dr. King delivered his famous speech explaining why he opposed the war at Riverside in New York City. He was killed a year later to the day.

“I was snatched out of Langston University, majoring in business and into TV and marketing. The [war] lottery numbers came out around that time and my number was low,” he said.

He was in the thick of it, along with over a half million other American soldiers.

“We didn’t even know where Vietnam was back in 1969 and we were 19 years old,” he said. “We got there and we followed orders.”

In Dr. King’s Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence speech, he blamed the American tragedy in Vietnam on French neo-colonialism and U.S. complicity, and U.S. military spending over providing food for the hungry.

“Year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death,” Dr. King said at Riverside Church in New York City.

Now in their 70s and older, Wallace said Vietnam took a toll, and many died.

“The overall Vietnam war, we weren’t supposed to be there. We lost a lot of people, it put a lot of people on drugs, but also saved a lot of people’s lives headed in the wrong direction. I have friends that were in Vietnam and we’re still friends today,” Wallace said.

Health issues from Agent Orange exposure and napalm fires also continue for veterans, but he believes that even through tragedy across generations, the Black community are survivors.

“For me, Vietnam was a horrible, but when I look back, Black people are so resilient,” he said. “All these things people did to us, treated us like property, we survived and we rose to the top of entertainment and billionaires.”

Dr. King was also big on equal education and resources.

Wallace, also chancellor of YouthBuild IE, said working with youth today is critical. While they may start out as employees, he believes they can aspire to great leadership or become entrepreneurs who hire others.

“We tell these young people here that you are the next set of senators and congresspeople so you have to get yourself together. I tell them there’s two kinds of people, one that digs the hole and the other that tells you where to dig the hole,” he said.

Vendors are welcome to reserve their spot. Single parade entry $50 fee, $125 for information booths, and $175 for food vendors.

For sponsorship, vendor registration, or volunteer opportunities register online at
Blackchamberofcommerce.org, or contact Lue.info@yahoo.com, 1.888.466.7408