Mayoral candidates use King's Birthday to tout their campaigns

Martin Luther King's Birthday served as a debutantes' ball of sorts for the candidates who want to be Philadelphia's next mayor, as they sped about the city hitting events to highlight their campaigns and, in some cases, individual strong suits.

Most important, they spent time in the public eye, turning the day of remembrance for the nation's premier civil rights leader into a coming-out party for a campaign that has heretofore been invisible.

State Sen. Anthony H. Williams opened his day at Bright Hope Baptist Church, long a beacon for the African American community and a not-so-subtle reminder of Williams' family heritage.

Williams' father, Hardy, was a member of a groundbreaking generation of black political leaders in Philadelphia that included Bright Hope's former pastor, the late U.S. Rep. William H. Gray III.

Williams recalled that past later as he stood outside Tanner Duckrey School in North Philadelphia, where he greeted Temple University sports team members who were volunteering for a day of service.

"There is a legacy and history from which I came as a kid," he said, reciting names of civil rights giants who were regulars in his home, such A. Leon Higginbotham and the Rev. Leon Sullivan. "I grew up in the shadow of the civil rights movement.

"I didn't know it at the time," he said, "but I was absorbing a legacy of activism that has followed me since."

Williams was an easy presence as he walked the halls of Duckrey, glad-handing and chatting with volunteers who were painting, cleaning, and generally rearranging things. He later attended the annual luncheon of the Philadelphia Martin Luther King Jr. Association for Nonviolence and another service event at West Philadelphia High School.

Earlier, former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham could be found strolling through Girard College during opening ceremonies for the citywide Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. She later joined a League of Women Voters panel discussion on women in politics, a telling venue for the sole female in the mayor's race.

Abraham cast herself as an accidental politician, recruited in 1975 to run for Municipal Court judge by then-Democratic Party Chairman Peter J. Camiel as part of a political fight he was having with Mayor Frank L. Rizzo.

"Like much of my life, everything I have done has been almost by accident," she told a sparse crowd. "Unplanned and unscripted, it sort of works for me."

Abraham stirred controversy during the annual ceremony to honor King in 1998 when then-NAACP head J. Whyatt Mondesire threatened a walkout if she attended a high-profile luncheon. She canceled her appearance to avoid being a distraction.

The issue had been Abraham's opposition to President Bill Clinton's nomination of Common Pleas Court Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson to the federal bench in Philadelphia. Abraham and other prosecutors said Massiah-Jackson showed bias against police and prosecutors.

Massiah-Jackson, who would have been the first African American woman on that court, withdrew from consideration. The controversy followed Abraham into later elections.

Asked about the current mayoral field, Abraham said it reflected the greatness of America.

"Everyone has a story about the greatness of America," Abraham said. "It hasn't been great all the time for everybody. Trust me. We all know our history. We have a lot to be sorry for and ashamed of as a country and as a people."

Ken Trujillo also started his day at Girard, where he shared the dais with Mayor Nutter and other elected officials. Although he did not have a speaking role, he took time to snap some selfies on the stage.

He later joined volunteers assembling bilingual polling place signs. The former city solicitor and successful businessman struggled at first with pasting the signs.

"There are a lot of things I'm not very good at," Trujillo acknowledged. "This is one of them."

When rival candidate Nelson Diaz was stationed across from him on the narrow table, Trujillo greeted him politely. The two men awkwardly proceeded to work without engaging one another.

Trujillo, who would later join the thousands who marched from Philadelphia School District headquarters on North Broad Street to Independence Mall to call for increasing the minimum wage to $15, more funding for public schools, and ending "stop and frisk" and police brutality, soon left and headed to the University of Pennsylvania, where, as part of a Philadelphia Literacy Project, he read a Dr. Seuss book into an RCA cassette recorder.

Staring at the machine, he said: "I'm just wondering why they don't use mp3 players."

Trujillo later spent time at the Wharton Recreation Center cleanup in West Philadelphia and a similar effort at the William Way LGBT Community Center in Center City.

Trujillo spoke to about 50 at William Way, saying he is running for mayor so that today's youths have a better future.

"I think we can do better. Our kids can do better," he said. "The status quo isn't working."

Diaz, a former Common Pleas Court judge, attended the 8 a.m. Barristers' Association of Philadelphia's King memorial breakfast. He stood outside a large ballroom at the Convention Center shaking hands with judges, lawyers, and officials.

Councilwoman Cindy Bass and former state Supreme Court Justice James Fitzgerald (who is Diaz's neighbor) were among his well-wishers.

"This guy's been asking me to run for mayor for years," Diaz said mid-handshake with Edward Chacker, a personal injury lawyer and past chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

"It's true," Chacker said. "And he's going to do it."

After stops at Girard and the rally in front of the School District building, it was on to Manna at 23d and Ranstead Streets. The organization delivers meals for critically ill Philadelphia and South Jersey residents.

Diaz had the job of labeling the single-serving dinners of baked fish, brown rice, and cabbage. He donned a hairnet and an apron and only dropped one meal on the assembly line. To his relief, it was air-sealed and salvageable.

"The food is exceptional here," Diaz said to a sous chef. "Better than many restaurants I've been to."

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Inquirer staff writer Chris Hepp contributed to this article.