Smith: Martin Luther King Jr. celebration to spotlight interplay of courage and fear

In October of 2017, many people terrified by rushing flames didn’t freeze or hide, but bravely gathered their loved ones and perhaps banged on the doors of neighbors.

Such courage amid fear will be a theme of the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration that begins at 7 p.m. Sunday at Santa Rosa High.

“When you push past fear, you arrive at courage,” said Morris Turner, the Sonoma County youth advocate who’ll present the keynote address.

Ballet Folklorico Jazmin will perform and there will be positive hip-hop by MC Radioactive, speeches by students and more.

Something to recall going in: MLK once said that “courage is the power of the mind to overcome fear.”

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THE FINAL SIGNS: It’s coming on 18 months ago that four neighbors in Santa Rosa commenced selling lawn signs bearing quotes from the likes of the Alice Walker, Margaret Mead, Harvey Milk, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Today hundreds of the signs adorn local front yards. The women who sell them for 10 bucks each and donate the proceeds to an essential food pantry are preparing to conclude their project at the Women’s March Saturday in Santa Rosa.

They’ll have a table at Old Courthouse Square and will sell - for cash only, they plead - the last of their “Signs of Hope.” Among the printed reflections and entreaties:

“My religion is simple. My religion is kindness,” by the Dalai Lama.

Cesar Chavez: “Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.”

And, “I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up,” by Rosa Parks.

Said the project’s Laura Doty, “We have about 300 signs left, and that will be all there is.”

She and her neighbors in what they call the Benton Street Improvement Association - Melanie Jones-Carter, Kristen Throop and Valerie Waidler - have donated thousands of dollars in sign sales proceeds to the F.I.S.H. food pantry. The women are thrilled by how the signs have gone over and by the discourse they’ve stirred.

Said Doty, “It brings tears to my eyes when we drive through a neighborhood we don’t normally go through and we see the signs around.”

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COFFEE RESTORES: Think you couldn’t possibly love coffee any more? Sip on this.

Sales of a new local label, Neighborhood Coffee, will benefit community efforts - first off, the post-fire recovery of the Larkfield area immediately north of Santa Rosa.

The concept of Neighborhood Coffee percolated in the mind of Rob Daly, who once ran what’s now Sonoma County’s Taylor Lane Organic Coffee and now is with Black Oak Coffee Roasters of Mendocino County.

Daly’s idea is to each year share 5 percent of the proceeds from sales of the four roasts of Neighborhood Coffee with a local cause. The initial beneficiary is the tree replanting effort of the Larkfield Resilience Fund.

One of Daly’s kids attends the area’s Riebli Elementary and a second went to the now destroyed Mark West Community Preschool.

“I have a lot of friends and a lot of families that are over in that area,” he said.

Neighborhood Coffee is on the shelves at regional Whole Foods and is going for an introductory price of $8.99.

You can contact Staff Writer ?Chris Smith at 707 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.