Local Modesto political activist Sebastian Jones is calling upon the Modesto City Schools to name its next elementary school after the late civil rights activist the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Jones, who is a Board member of Modesto's King-Kennedy Center, has been an activist for social justice all of his adult life. He regularly advocates for innocent victims of predatory landlords on the verge of homelessness before the City Council and various urban commissions that deal with landlord/tenant relations. Jones' application to serve on the Board of Building Appeals is being reconsidered after it originally was rejected by Council members Mani Grewal, Jenny Kenoyer, Bill Zoslocki and Ed Ridenour.
So Long Overdue
As Jones sees it, the naming of an elementary school after Dr. King is long, long overdue in Modesto. A city of over 200,000 people, like Modesto, Jones says, should project an interface of ethnic diversity. Such an interface, according to Jones, is not possible without the inclusion of an elementary school that is dedicated to the memory of the one civil rights leader who dedicated his life to bringing people of all ethnic backgrounds together peacefully and judging people by "the content of their character, not by the color of their skin."
Why an Elementary School
The question arises: Why is Jones calling for naming an elementary school after Dr. King, and not a junior high or high school? The answer is quite simple: The elementary years are the formative years and the impressions made during those years run the deepest. It is during those formative years that children will be the most responsive to instruction on who Dr. King was and the values that he represented. Also, it is during the elementary years that children best can be molded to accept each other for who they are and not on the basis of race.
Sebastian won't quit
Sebastian won't quit in his tireless fight to see to it that Modesto's next elementary school is named after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. He is a relentless fighter and he believes in the causes for which he advocates. And this is one cause in which he totally believes!
