// Annual All People's Breakfast Held Downtown - KGTV San Diego
// January 17, 2012 at 9:31 AM
Related To Story
POSTED: 5:13 am PST January 16, 2012
UPDATED: 1:24 pm PST January 16, 2012
SAN DIEGO -- About 1,200 people observed Martin Luther King Day Monday by attending the 24th annual All People's Breakfast at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel.
» Sign Up For Breaking News Alerts» Like Us On Facebook
The keynote speaker, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, penned "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant" in the New York Times Magazine last June.He said he came from the Philippines as a child and didn't realize he was in the country illegally until he was 16 and tried to apply for a learner's permit to drive. It turned out the identification card he had been given was fake.Vargas said he thought he would eventually earn citizenship by working hard, but it didn't work out that way. He said he hid his immigration status while he built his career but decided he didn't want that life anymore."I just couldn't keep going on you know, I've always thought that I could just earn what it is to be an American, I thought if I succeeded enough, I could just earn citizenship, but it doesn't happen that way," Vargas said. Vargas said he wants to break down stereotypes. "You are not who you think we are; we're your neighbors, we go to your churches, we go to your schools, we don't just mow your lawns and babysit your kids, we actually write news articles, we go to college, we graduate from engineering schools and law schools and medical schools, um, we're here," Vargas said. Vargas said he'd like to see comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship. "We have to make sense of an immigration system that doesn't make any sense. What Martin Luther King said is 'an unjust law is no law at all,' and in some ways I think the immigration system has been unjust," Vargas said. The program also included short digital stories of overcoming intolerance as told by San Diegans of diverse backgrounds, including former county Supervisor Leon Williams, Viejas Tribal Chairman Anthony Pico, and Susan Madison, San Diego's Disability Services Program coordinator.Estela De Los Rios, executive director of the Center for Social Advocacy, received the San Diego Human Relations Commission's Ashley L. Walker Social Justice Award at the event.Several other organizations held events to mark King's birthday. The slain civil rights leader would have been 83.Union members affiliated with the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council picked up trash in and around Grantville Neighborhood Park.Volunteers with the Lakeside River Park Conservancy and Americorps had a day of service to clean up trash in the bed of the San Diego River, and church groups held a clean-up day at Balboa Park.More than 100 Kaiser Permanente employees volunteered their time to sort 36,000 pounds of food at the San Diego Food Bank. This is the eighth year Kaiser Permanente employees have volunteered at the food bank."We're really trying to follow Dr. King's ideas of giving back to the community and that's why we're here today," said Dr. Paul Bernstein, Kaiser Permanente's San Diego Area Medical Director.Others helped spruce up a home in Chula Vista for youth who have aged out of the county's foster care center, and a center for domestic violence center in Escondido.
Do you have more information about this story? Click here to contact us
Copyright 2012 by 10News.com. City News Service contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The following are comments from our users. Opinions expressed are neither created nor endorsed by 10News.com. By posting a comment you agree to accept our Terms of Use. Comments are moderated by the community. To report an offensive or otherwise inappropriate comment, click the "Flag" link that appears beneath that comment. Comments that are flagged by a set number of users will be automatically removed.
// January 17, 2012 at 9:31 AM
Related To Story
POSTED: 5:13 am PST January 16, 2012
UPDATED: 1:24 pm PST January 16, 2012
SAN DIEGO -- About 1,200 people observed Martin Luther King Day Monday by attending the 24th annual All People's Breakfast at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel.
» Sign Up For Breaking News Alerts» Like Us On Facebook
The keynote speaker, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, penned "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant" in the New York Times Magazine last June.He said he came from the Philippines as a child and didn't realize he was in the country illegally until he was 16 and tried to apply for a learner's permit to drive. It turned out the identification card he had been given was fake.Vargas said he thought he would eventually earn citizenship by working hard, but it didn't work out that way. He said he hid his immigration status while he built his career but decided he didn't want that life anymore."I just couldn't keep going on you know, I've always thought that I could just earn what it is to be an American, I thought if I succeeded enough, I could just earn citizenship, but it doesn't happen that way," Vargas said. Vargas said he wants to break down stereotypes. "You are not who you think we are; we're your neighbors, we go to your churches, we go to your schools, we don't just mow your lawns and babysit your kids, we actually write news articles, we go to college, we graduate from engineering schools and law schools and medical schools, um, we're here," Vargas said. Vargas said he'd like to see comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship. "We have to make sense of an immigration system that doesn't make any sense. What Martin Luther King said is 'an unjust law is no law at all,' and in some ways I think the immigration system has been unjust," Vargas said. The program also included short digital stories of overcoming intolerance as told by San Diegans of diverse backgrounds, including former county Supervisor Leon Williams, Viejas Tribal Chairman Anthony Pico, and Susan Madison, San Diego's Disability Services Program coordinator.Estela De Los Rios, executive director of the Center for Social Advocacy, received the San Diego Human Relations Commission's Ashley L. Walker Social Justice Award at the event.Several other organizations held events to mark King's birthday. The slain civil rights leader would have been 83.Union members affiliated with the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council picked up trash in and around Grantville Neighborhood Park.Volunteers with the Lakeside River Park Conservancy and Americorps had a day of service to clean up trash in the bed of the San Diego River, and church groups held a clean-up day at Balboa Park.More than 100 Kaiser Permanente employees volunteered their time to sort 36,000 pounds of food at the San Diego Food Bank. This is the eighth year Kaiser Permanente employees have volunteered at the food bank."We're really trying to follow Dr. King's ideas of giving back to the community and that's why we're here today," said Dr. Paul Bernstein, Kaiser Permanente's San Diego Area Medical Director.Others helped spruce up a home in Chula Vista for youth who have aged out of the county's foster care center, and a center for domestic violence center in Escondido.
Do you have more information about this story? Click here to contact us
Copyright 2012 by 10News.com. City News Service contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The following are comments from our users. Opinions expressed are neither created nor endorsed by 10News.com. By posting a comment you agree to accept our Terms of Use. Comments are moderated by the community. To report an offensive or otherwise inappropriate comment, click the "Flag" link that appears beneath that comment. Comments that are flagged by a set number of users will be automatically removed.
Comments