‘He served his community’: Bay Area celebrates 40th MLK Day with marches and volunteer events

As the Bay Area celebrates the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day with marches, concerts and volunteer events, many residents are remembering the civil rights leader’s legacy by working to unite and serve their local communities amid an increasingly divisive national political climate.

“He served his community, did everything he could to help his people and make sure that everyone was represented equally,” said Brett Matthews, a volunteer at a garden center clean-up Monday near Oakland’s Lake Merritt. “By volunteering and giving our time, we help keep (his message).”

In the year since President Donald Trump’s second inauguration on MLK Day of 2025, the president has sought to dismantle “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives and directed immigration and law enforcement crackdowns on cities with large Black populations, among other policies that critics see as targeting people of color.

Jenifer Azulay, volunteer coordinator for the clean-up at the Marsha J. Corprew Memorial Lakeside Park Garden Center, said community activism and engagement are one way to overcome what she sees as a darkness hanging over the country.

“We can go out and fight oppressive systems, and that is important, but we also need to be feeding into ourselves and feeding our community and like building up joy and hope, because otherwise, what’s the point of the whole thing?” Azulay said. “Just as much as we’re working in the garden, the garden is also working on us,” Azulay added.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, a Caltrain “celebration train” took residents of the South Bay and Peninsula to an MLK Day rally and concert in San Francisco. In Palo Alto, the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center scheduled a day of service. And San Jose State University planned a luncheon with King Day luncheon with guest speakers, including local TV journalist Reyna Harvey.

This story will be updated.