San Francisco Chronicle - January 18, 2009
Nanette Asimov, nasimov@sfchronicle.com

"Who would've thought?" he asked.

As in past years, people from around Northern California will pour into San Francisco on King's birthday to remember his message of peace and unity in dangerous times.

"We're expecting hundreds of people - on trains, ferries, buses, from Sacramento and Stockton, San Jose and Fresno," said Ed Campbell, a San Francisco firefighter who donates his time each year to publicize the birthday celebration and march.

But this year, no parade through San Francisco streets will echo the slain leader's historic 1968 march on Washington when he seemed to foretell his own imminent assassination: "I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land."

For Campbell and many others, the election of the nation's first black president means King was right.

Monday's celebration at the Civic Center has been called "The Realization of Hope" and will be as much about Barack Obama, who will be sworn in on Tuesday, as about the civil rights leader on whose shoulders he stands.

"This year, we are ceasing from marching in order to celebrate our collective achievement and reflect on its significance," Campbell said. "For us it was a realization of hope to have Barack Obama become president."

Like Williams, Campbell asked: "Who would have ever thought that we'd see this in our lifetime?"

Organizers of the free, all-day celebration honoring King's 80th birthday say it's been hard to finalize the program because so many people are in Washington, D.C., for Obama's inauguration.

"I'll be honest with you, it's been a scramble because everybody - everybody - will be in Washington," Campbell said Friday.

Even Williams, the event's chairman, was supposed to be in Washington.

"My wife and I had tickets to go - good tickets, to do everything and attend the balls," Williams said. "But I have a bum knee. That's the main reason I didn't go."

Williams then reflected further: "But maybe it's because I needed to be here. You've got a lot of folks that couldn't make it. So we're going to be here, bringing a new kind of spirit. It's good for us to be here."

The celebration will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove St. in San Francisco.

Among the many local acts providing entertainment will be the Glide Ensemble, the gospel choir from Williams' Glide Memorial Church.

There will also be a focus on health care, with free testing for HIV/AIDS and other illnesses.

There will be films, and speakers discussing the life of King and the work of other civil-rights pioneers.

Local actor Brandon Hughes, as King, will speak to Obama from heaven.

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