Events

“In the Name of Love” Annual Musical Tribute to Dr. King, Jan. 18

Published

11 years ago

January 14, 2015

Living Jazz will present the 13^th Annual Musical Tribute honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “In the Name of Love,” on Sunday, Jan. 18, 7 p.m., at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Dr. in Oakland.

The tribute will celebrate “Creative Achievements of Bay Area African American Female Musicians” highlighting 4 outstanding female vocalists: Linda Tillery, The Dynamic Ms. Faye Carol, Melanie DeMore, and gina Breedlove, along with an exciting all-female backup band including Tammy Hall on piano, Kofy Brown on bass and Ruthie Price on drums.

This year’s program will bring them together on stage for the first time to honor their achievements and to provide a platform for an exciting and creative experience meant to inspire hope, celebrate Oakland’s cultural history and highlight the power of music to spur positive change.

Dana King will be mistress of ceremonies and Mayor Libby Schaaf will present the Oakland Citizen Humanitarian Award to Regina Jackson, president and CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC).

The program will include performances by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, led by Terrance Kelly, and the Oakland Children’s Community Choir backed up by Oaktown Jazz Workshops.

This promises to be a profound celebration of civil rights and an amazing evening of music.

All proceeds from the 13^th Annual Tribute will support the Oakland Children’s Community Choir, a free music education program provided by Living Jazz for Oakland public elementary schools with little or no access to the arts. Living Jazz believes that access to music education is a profound and necessary component of every child’s education and development.

Tickets are $23 for adults, and $8 for children 12 and under. For tickets, visit www.mlktribute.com or call (510) 287-8880.

“In the Name of Love” has been made possible through the generosity of City of Oakland Cultural Funding Program; William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Walter and Elise Haas Fund; National Endowment for the Arts; California Arts Council; Alameda County Arts Commission; Clorox Company Foundation; Thomas J. Long Foundation; Zellerbach Family Foundation; See’s Candies; Mechanics Bank; BART; Oakland Tribune; KRON 4; and KBLX.

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Arts and Culture

Fayeth Gardens Holds 3rd Annual Kwanzaa Celebration at Hayward City Hall on Dec. 28

Kwanzaa celebrates seven principles – Nguzu Saba – that support an ideal of community, beginning from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Those principles, in Swahili, are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility), Ujamaa (Collective Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

Published

2 days ago

December 14, 2025

Oakland Post

The Pride and Joy Band performed at the first annual Kwanzaa celebration sponsored by Fayeth Gardens. Courtesy photo.

Entertainment, vendors, and special honors for Sankofa Lifetime Achievement awardees

Special to The Post

Celebrating Ujima, the principle of ‘Collective Work and Responsibility,’ Fayeth Gardens’ 3^rd Annual Kwanzaa Celebration will be held on Dec. 28, from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

Kwanzaa celebrates seven principles – Nguzu Saba – that support an ideal of community, beginning from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.

Those principles, in Swahili, are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility), Ujamaa (Collective Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

The free event at Hayward City Hall at 777 B St. will feature live entertainment, a guest speaker, awards for community activists whose work reflects the principle of Ujima, vendors and an honoring of the ancestors by Awon Ohun Omnira (Voices of Freedom).

On stage will be the Touch of Class Band, a New Orleans Second-Line Band, and the California Griot Storytellers. Bring the children to have fun in the Kids Korner.

Velda Goe, who has been celebrating Kwanzaa since it started in the 1960s, noticed there was no public celebration of the holiday in Hayward when she moved to the city in 2008.

“I started it a couple of years ago,” she said, “and hopefully it will continue just like the cultural events by other nationalities (in Hayward). The Afro-descendent people of Hayward deserve cultural recognition as well.”

Goe also believes it’s important that Kwanzaa gets its due because “there are so many misconceptions,” particularly by people of other nationalities, who are under the impression “that Kwanzaa is a cult, a religion, or replaces Christmas.”

The celebration, which is open to all, can have the effect of helping guests see that Kwanzaa’a principles and purpose are common to all

This year’s Sankofa Lifetime Awardees are:

Mrs. Freddye M. Davis: President of the South Hayward NAACP
•Baba Arnold X.C. Perkins: Co-founder of the Brotherhood of Elders
•Frederick Jordan,: Legendary founder of F.E. Jordan & Associates and the Design Engineer for the Charles P. Howard Container Terminal at the Port of Oakland + 1,000 Projects

Come dressed up in your best African wear to enter a raffle for a prize for best-dressed Afrocentric King and Queen.A free, healthy soul food lunch is available with an Eventbrite ticket, which can be found at for free lunch is available from for 11:30 to 12 p.m.

In its third year, the event is the brainchild of Velda Goe, founder of Fayeth Gardens, a community planting site to educate and provide a means for urban dwellers to grow healthy food for their families and develop life-sustaining eating habits.

Interested in being a vendor, volunteer, or sponsor? Reach out to FayethGardens@gmail.com

For tickets, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fayeth-gardens-3rd-annual-kwanzaa-celebration-at-hayward-city-hall-tickets-1974966953322