For Pastor Booker Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is about more than just a parade — it is about remembering why people marched in the first place.
This includes centering Dr. King celebrations around giving back to the community and fostering community engagement, with events led by residents and grassroots leaders with support from some public institutions.
Lewis, a longtime Fresno pastor at Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church in southwest Fresno, helps lead a community-run King celebration committee that is entering its third year. The group formed after years of what Lewis described as unsuccessful attempts to engage with the city-sponsored MLK unity committee, which he said has become increasingly disconnected from the Black community in Fresno it is meant to represent…