UFT officials and members joined with elected officials and local clergy in the annual celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Convent Avenue Baptist Church in Harlem. UFT President Michael Mulgrew, in his greetings from the pulpit, said that the UFT and King share a proud history and recalled how a group of teachers “passed around a hat” so they could get station wagons — which were donated to the movement — to go down South and meet with King in the 1960s. Mulgrew also spoke about the campaign for universal full-day prekindergarten, noting how expanded access to pre-K would help to level the playing field for low-income children. Joseph Usatch, a chapter leader from JHS 311 in Brooklyn who attended the celebration with two fellow chapter leaders, said “it only seemed logical to attend” in light of the enormous impact the civil rights movement had on the labor union movement. The threesome decided to dine afterward at nearby Sylvia’s, where they spotted Mayor Bill de Blasio entering the restaurant. “The most memorable afternoon, to end an even more unforgettable morning,” said Erin Oates, the chapter leader of the Evergreen MS for Urban Exploration in Brooklyn. As part of the day’s celebration, the Rev. Al Sharpton welcomed Mulgrew and others to the National Action Network headquarters not far from the Convent Avenue church later that same day.