By Olivia Clark, Voice & Viewpoint Staff Writer
Held on the crisp Friday morning of January 16, 2026 at the beautiful Town & Country Resort, the 41st Annual Jackie Robinson Family YMCA Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human Dignity Award Breakfast was a grand start to a weekend celebrating the life and legacy of the great civil rights activist and Baptist minister.
Recognizing and honoring the community service of Dr. Leonard J. Thompson III and Pastor Dr. Walter G. Wells, the event, keynoted by Voice & Viewpoint Publisher Dr. John E. Warren, began as the sun rose outside the Golden State Ballroom.
The crowd of about 1,300 San Diego community leaders and residents stood in line to fill their plates with a delicious breakfast in time to find their seats.
After being treated to a wonderful opening song sung by Ms. Carmelia “Toot” Bell, Pastor Dennis Hodges of the Church of Yeshua Ha Mashiach led the room in an Invocation. The long panel of past awardees of the Human Dignity Award or their representatives stretched out on either side of the podium acted as a reminder of the power and legacy of the event.
Dee Sanford, Event Chair and Jackie Robinson Family YMCA Board Member for over 30 years, thanked the audience for their attendance and introduced the emcee for the morning, Melissa Mecija, ABC 10 News Anchor. Mecija offered a reminder of the importance of keeping the words and calls to action invoked by MLK Jr. alive today, not only for our own sake, but for the next generation as well. The program officially began with the energy and power of the Teye Sa Thiosanne African Drum & Dance Company filling the room with music, joy and a willingness to make the morning a celebration.
The Buffalo Soldiers presented the Colors and the winners of the 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Art & Poetry Contest led the room in the Pledge of Allegiance. The MLK Jr. Community Choir then led the ballroom in singing “Lift Every Voice & Sing.”
As the choir sang their next tune, the room continued to buzz with good morning greetings and the gathering of breakfast. Plates clanging, smiles all around, friendly faces and conversations. There was a bright energy in the room that began to swell along with the dawn of a new day outside.
Anna Arancibia, Jackie Robinson Family YMCA Executive Director, officially welcomed the crowd to the special annual event, recognizing that the YMCA has been celebrating Dr. King since the establishment of the national holiday. “This is who we are. This is what we do, and together this is how we carry on his legacy every single day,” she said.
Robert Ito, Jackie Robinson Family YMCA Board Chair, took the time to recognize all the sponsors and volunteers that made the event possible as well as the honored dignitaries in attendance. Todd Tibbits, President and CEO of YMCA of San Diego County acknowledged the legacy of the event, calling on us all to go further and go beyond, as Dr. King did, in order to better ourselves and our San Diego community.
County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe used her time to thank Sanford for her continued service and commitment to Dr. King’s legacy, as well as thank past awardees for paving the way for Black San Diegans. She brought attention to the great sacrifices that Dr. King made in order for us to live the lives we live today. “Now we may have to make some of the same sacrifices that he made. Are we ready to do that? How many will flee and how many will stand?” she asked the crowd. “We need to be ready to stand and we need to stand together.”
As Sanford came back to the podium, she asked the crowd to look around at the beauty they were surrounded by. “This is probably the most diverse audience many of you will be in. Diversity, equality, and inclusion is still alive and well and important, and what Dr. King gave his life for. So that we could all be here together.”
Natasha Mata, Wells Fargo Region Bank Executive, presented each finalist and winner of the 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Art & Poetry Contest. 10th grader Nyla Cyprian, a finalist in the competition, presented her spoken word “Prepared, Not Scared,” with the whole audience clapping, snapping, and praising her after each stanza. “Dr. King dreamed big. So I can dream without limits,” Nyla recited, to which the audience cheered and applauded.
Rhys Green, co-founder and Artistic Director of the San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre, performed Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech with striking presence. Standing at the podium, his voice echoed through the grand halls, and out into the air of our current moment. Green embodied the speech’s cadence, becoming a vessel for its enduring call to hope and action. The audience sat in awe, absorbing each pause and inflection as a reminder of both what Dr. King fought for and the work that remains. With an image of a sculpture of MLK Jr. looming behind Green, it felt as though Dr. King himself was in the room, his words once again demanding attention and calling for justice.
The Human Dignity Award recipients this year were Dr. Leonard J. Thompson III and Pastor Dr. Walter G. Wells.
Dr. Leonard J. Thompson III, a community leader known for his love of God, his family, and his community, was labeled as a special needs student early in his schooling career in the San Diego Unified School District. Dr. Thompson then went on to graduate as his high school’s first African American valedictorian. “One thing I thank God for is the village that raised me,” he said with a radiant smile, thanking his wife and family. As the founder of M.A.N.D.A.T.E. Records Inc., San Diego’s long-standing record label, and Mandate Project, a nonprofit training inner-city youth in music, TV, film, radio and event production, Dr. Thompson offered a message: “to all the young people, I want you to know that we are here for you. We are stronger together.”
Dr. Walter G. Wells is a pastor, teacher, and community leader who has touched the lives of community members for more than five decades. As the founder of Mt. Erie Christian Academy, Pastor Wells expanded youth engagement and has committed himself to community advancement for more than 53 years. He thanked his wife of over 60 years, his family, and all of his fellow community members. “This award really belongs to all of you as we honor the legacy of Dr. King. Let us continue to work for God,” Pastor Wells said.
Dr. John E. Warren, President of Warren Communications, Inc., Publisher of the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, offered Friday morning’s keynote address. Dr. Warren opened with a warning not to fall into hopelessness. He took the audience through his experiences growing up in a segregated North Carolina, seeing water fountains labeled “colored” and “white,” sitting high up in a tree to watch Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and beginning a long career on Capitol Hill at the age of 17. “We cannot appreciate where we are unless we appreciate where we’ve been and where we came from,” he said.
“We have a new battle today,” Dr. Warren declared, “today, we’re not fighting for civil rights as much as we are fighting for human rights now.” His answer? Prayer. “This is the missing element in our struggle,” he said. “We are not praying anymore. We will not get any place without prayer.” Dr. Warren drew attention to our collective lack of action on the issues that most affect us. Reminding us that Dr. King was a servant and a man of action first and foremost, Dr. Warren called on all of us to follow in his image and take action to be involved. Dr. Warren noted that “Dr. King’s attitude is not what’s happening to us because, his attitude is what we can do in spite of.”
Before thanking his family for their support, Dr. Warren closed with a call for consistent celebration of Dr. King and reminder to all of us to include reading along with our social media scrolling in order to be fully informed on the state of the world we find ourselves in.
Pastor Hodges closed out the beautiful morning’s events with a benediction, and Rev. Lisa Payton Harris blessed us all with a heartfelt rendition of “Total Praise” that brought tears to every eye and the audience of 1,300 to their feet.
