More than 1,200 San Diego residents and community leaders came together Friday morning at the 41st annual Human Dignity Award breakfast to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy while signaling the work that lies ahead. Hosted at the Town County Resort by Jackie Robinson Family YMCA, the annual ev ent paid homage to King. It was attended by Supervisor Montgomery Steppe, San Diego City Council members, religious leaders and past recipients of the award. Each year, two recipients are presented with the Human Dignity Award for their dedication to continuing King’s legacy by promoting his values through their commitments to the community. Honorees this year are Leonard Thompson III, an education advocate and founder of M.A.N.D.A.T.E Records Inc., and Walter Wells, a pastor for more than five decades. Wells founded Mt. Erie Christian Academy, as well as several early childhood centers and daycare programs across San Diego County. Since assuming pastoral leadership in 1973, he has worked as an educational advocate and religious leader in the community. “As we honor the legacy of Dr. King, let us continue to work for God,” Wells said. “As we look to those who are less fortunate than us … let us continue to stand for justice and righteousness.” Thompson founded one of San Diego’s longest-standing independent record labels, known for gospel and jazz music. In 2014, he launched a nonprofit that trained inner-city youth in music, television, radio and event production. An ordained Elder in the Church of God in Christ, Thompson also founded the award-winning gospel radio station GODRadio1.com. For the second year in a row, local actor Rhys Green performed a re-enactment of the “I Have a Dream” speech King delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington in 1963. The keynote address was given by John E. Warren, publisher of the Black-owned newspaper Voice Viewpoint and one of last year’s recipients of the Human Dignity Award. Dr. John E. Warren delivers the keynote address during the 41st annual Jackie Robinson Family YMCA Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Dignity Award Breakfast on Friday at the Towne and Country Resort in Mission Valley. (Howard Lipin / For The San Diego Union-Tribune) “We need to look back for a moment, because we are living in a time of crisis and a lot of us are frustrated and feeling hopeless,” Warren said. “Let me tell you, don’t go there.” Instead, Warren said now is the time to look to King’s achievements to inspire change in the future. “We are upset by what is happening in Minnesota, but we are not upset enough,” Warren said. “How can we sit and be silent while the fabric of our government is being destroyed by one person in our government?” He called for those in the audience to embody King’s attitude and said, “in spite of it all, we need to come together.” ...read more read less