OAKLAND -- It's not enough to acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr.'s place in history and throw in the occasional good deed in his name. It's not enough to hand a homeless person a sandwich or donate to a good cause.

These things are all vital, to be sure, but we must do more to chop away at the root of social injustice, according to author, motivational speaker and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson, invigorating an overflow crowd during Monday's "Make the Dream Real" event at Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in West Oakland.

"A day like this is so important because it means we enshrine the memory of Dr. King," Williamson said, her voice rising with a preacher's volume and vigor, standing at a podium above a portrait of King.

"By establishing this holiday, we made sure people do not forget that (King's) life occurred and what it meant," she said. "Yet already I and others are concerned at how the story is being a little whitewashed. We need to teach our children that the struggle for justice when Martin Luther King was alive was not easy, and it is not easy today.

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