Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Senator Pérez to Keynote King Day Celebration at John Muir High School

Senator Sasha Renee Perez via Facebook

The annual Pasadena event honoring Dr. King carries a theme of resilience one year after the Eaton Fire

A gathering on Monday, January 19 will honor a legacy built on nonviolence, equality, and hope.

The Pasadena Martin Luther King Jr. Community Coalition will host its 2026 King Day Celebration on Monday, January 19, at John Muir High School Auditorium.

This year’s theme is “Resilience and Renewal: Social Justice, Equality, and Community Empowerment”—words that carry particular weight in a region still rebuilding.

The free event, which begins with a teach-in at 8:30 a.m. followed by the main program at 10:00 a.m., will feature California Senator Sasha Renée Pérez as keynote speaker.

Pérez represents Senate District 25, which includes Pasadena, Altadena. At 32, she is the youngest state senator currently serving in California and the second youngest woman in the state’s history to hold the position.

The celebration continues a tradition stretching back more than three decades. The Coalition was founded by Drs. David and Jackie Jacobs, who as college sweethearts at Alabama State University attended Dr. King’s church in Montgomery, Alabama, and heard him preach.

“Raised in Alabama during times of discrimination and segregation and attending Dr. King’s church in Montgomery as a college student, his message of civil rights and justice left a profound impression with me,” Dr. Jackie Jacobs, president of the Coalition, said of her motivation to keep King’s legacy alive in Pasadena.

Dr. King himself visited Pasadena three times during the Civil Rights Movement—first at Caltech in 1958, then at Friendship Baptist Church in 1960 and 1965.

During his 1960 sermon, he spoke words that still echo: “In a real sense, the Negro cannot be free in Pasadena or Los Angeles until the Negro is free in Jackson, Mississippi and Montgomery, Alabama. We are all involved in a single struggle.”

The event at John Muir High School 1905 Lincoln Avenue is open to the public and brings together schools, families, and local organizations. The school, built in 1926, counts among its alumni Jackie Robinson, his brother Mack Robinson, and science fiction author Octavia Butler.

The 2026 King Day Celebration takes place Monday, January 19, with the teach-in beginning at 8:30 a.m. and the main program at 10:00 a.m. Admission is free. The event will be held at John Muir High School Auditorium, 1905 Lincoln Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103. Parking is available on the school campus. For more information, call (626) 794-9031 or visit www.PasadenaMLK.org.