Community Justice Journal

Every year, Santa Cruz honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy with a community march through Downtown led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The MAH typically joins the march and hosts a bookmaking art activity that folks can use to write their dreams and plans for a just future.

This year, we collected those dreams and plans to create a Community Justice Journal. We invited community members to respond to one of three prompts:

  • What changes would you like to see between now and the next Martin Luther King Jr Day?
  • If you could talk to Dr. King today, what would you say?
  • Imagine a world where BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) thrive. Describe it

In these words and images, are the values and commitments of Santa Cruz County. From poem to collage, we received stories of reflection, gratitude, and visioning in the format community members felt true.

We hope you are able to see your story reflected. We encourage you to dream up and write or draw or sing it, and start moving. Together, we can move to realize the visions in these pages.


“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” - Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967

The Community Justice Journal

Watsonville Charter School of the Arts

Submitted by the Cultural Arts & Diversity Resource Center

Submitted by the Stroke and Disability Learning Center

This journal was organized by the MAH with contributions from Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center leadership team August Stevens, Kayla Ybarra, and Yazlin Juarez, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People President Brenda Griffin, Melissa Shaw’s 4th grade class of Pajaro Valley Unified School District, students of the Cabrillo College's Stroke and Disability Learning Center and community members of Santa Cruz County.

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