While the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration train from the South Bay to The City isn’t happening this year, Stanford University and San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora are observing with plentiful online programming.

Pre-registration is required for the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University’s free, four-day film festival and webinar, which runs Jan. 15-18.

On the slate are 20 documentaries, musical performances and discussions on a big topic: King’s unanswered question: “Where do we go from here?”

Clayborne Carson, director of the institute, leads webinar sessions from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday through Monday on Zoom, addressing subjects including “The King Legacy in the Bay Area,” “Martin Luther King’s Pilgrimage to India,” “The Relationship Between Martin and Coretta,” “The Inner of Life of Martin Luther King” and much more.

The event opens at 5:30 p.m. Friday with “At the Table with Dr. King,” a performance with historic video, music, poetry and King’s words designed for middle- and high-school students, followed by a concert presented by Healdsburg Jazz featuring Kim Nalley, Tiffany Austin, Tammy Lynne Hall, Genius Wesley and Marcus Shelby, and a new poem by Enid Pickett dedicated to the Children’s March of 1963. Friday’s films include “One Voice: The Story of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir” and “River City Drumbeat,” about young Black people in the River City Drum Corps in Louisville, Ky.

“I hope the King holiday can become an occasion for informing people about King’s legacy and how it relates to the King Institute, but more broadly, how it relates to the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Carson, Stanford’s emeritus Martin Luther King, Jr. centennial professor of history.

“One of the things that will be made clear is that the King family has had a very special relationship with this area and with Stanford,” Carson said.

A Sunday afternoon highlight is “In the Name of Love: The 19th Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” presented by Living Jazz. The pay-what-you-can benefit performance is hosted by Dana King and features Toshi Reagon and Allison Miller, Kronos Quartet and Meklit, The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, Tory Teasley and The Teasers, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, Branice McKenzie & Bryan Dyer with Glen Pearson, Living Jazz Children’s Project, Myles Staples of the 2019 Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest and the presentation of the Oakland Citizen Humanitarian Award by Congresswoman Barbara Lee to Dr. Noha Aboelata, founder and CEO of Roots Community Health Center.

For details and to register, visit https://events.stanford.edu/events/897/89775/.

San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora will observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service with free online programming – storytelling, poetry, discussion and more — from noon to 5 p .m. Monday.

The lineup includes the welcome event “What does MLK mean to me?” at noon, followed by 12:30 p.m. stories for little ones with San Francisco Public Library staff.

At 1 p.m., poets Marvin K. White. Joyce Lee, Daniel K. Summerhill and Jewelle Gomez appear, followed by a 2 p.m. presentation of historic civil rights era protest photographs selected by MoAD docents.

From 3 to 4 p.m. is an “MLK Collage Creation” in collaboration with Adobe Black Employee Network and, from 4 to 5 p.m. there’s “Meet Us Quickly: Performing and Painting for Justice,” a discussion of the project “Meet Us Quickly With Your Mercy,” part of a trilogy of performances that address the social justice issue of mass incarceration, and a digital exhibition created in conjunction with the performance.

For detalis, visit https://www.moadsf.org/event/celebration-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-national-day-of-service/?instance_id=15902.

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