Oh, SoCal, you know not what you do. A Laguna Beach surf shop has issued an apology saying they "meant no harm" in their Martin Luther King Day promotional material, advertising a 20% off sale on "all black items." The poster featured an image of Dr. King in a wetsuit, and many a Facebook fan told them they found this a little crass, and/or misguided. Thalia Surf Shop has removed the offending ad from their website and said that in future they'll "be more careful in our selection of promotions." more ›

Marking the 25th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, San Francisco celebrated with a march and volunteering wherein hundred gathered "throughout the city to help with gardening, tree-planting and litter cleanup activities." Around the country, various celebration were held in honor of the slain civil rights leader. (Also, in related news, First Lady Michelle Obama turned 47 today. She celebrated the day volunteering with her family.) more ›

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens hosts "Sustaining the Dream: Through Community and Service" today in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. The Contemporary Jewish Museum and the Museum of the African Diaspora are offering free admission all day, with special programs for children and teens, along with discounts and free activities at area retailers and shops. more ›

Not so much a palate cleanser we suppose, but here's a protest song from 1964 by the High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone. The song was written in response to the murder of Medgar Evers, and the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in which four schoolchildren were killed. She performed the song live at the end of one of the Selma to Montgomery marches in which she and several famous black activists (including Sammy Davis Jr. and James Baldwin) had crossed police lines. There are better, unembeddable versions of her performing the song here and here. Go over to NPR to hear Nina's tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., "Why?" more ›

And a day before BART Rider Appreciation, no less? Sad. more ›

Image credit: Signe's Blog more ›

This year's abortion bash, Walk for Life-West Coast, will take place tomorrow, Jan 19, on the lawn area of Justin Herman Plaza down by the Embarcadero from 10:30 a..m. to 1:30 p.m. And we can't wait! What are you going to wear? We're going to sport our beaver fur-trimmed coat, because...well, we're sure there's a smug murder joke in there somewhere. But if you're able to get up that early on a Saturday morning, you all should head down to the Embarcadero to voice your support and/or disdain. (Why this can't be settled with a pillow fight is beyond us.) more ›

Hey, the new MUNI T Third line is finally open! That's the new light rail route that goes (.gif) from Castro Station down Third Street, through Dogpatch, down the Bayview, past Monster Park, and all the way to Sunnydale Avenue. We decided to spend our day off today checking it out. more ›

It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day which means some of you are working and some of you aren't working. We're guessing more of you are working than not working so a whole lot of you are bitter while the rest of you are probably still asleep right now. more ›

-Fire at the Richmond refinery scares the crap out of a lot of people. more ›

It's part of the Politician Rulebook that for Martin Luther King Day, the politician goes to find some civil rights type group, gives a speech in which they give a bunch of homilies in praise of the good Dr., says there's still a lot of work to do, then goes back to not doing anything to accomplish any of it. Which is what Herr Governator did this Martin Luther King Day: he gave a speech at a labor-sponsored Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast in San Francisco. It didn't go over very well more ›

We're on a lighter posting schedule today in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. -- we hope you have the day off to spend at a number of Bay Area celebrations scheduled for today. (If you don't get the day off, spend all day playing Public Enemy really, really loud). In San Francisco, the MLK parade will begin at 11:30 at the Fourth and King Street when the "Freedom Train" pulls into the Caltrain station, and goes up Third Street, down Market, and ends at Civic Center Plaza. Starting at 12:30, Representative Barbara Lee will speak, and local American Idol finalist LaToya London will perform. Dr. King advocated racial justice, most famously in his I Have A Dream speech in 1963, and was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. Keep the dream alive. more ›