Around the country and the world on Monday, groups and organizations marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day with parades, acts of remembrance, and service.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., would have celebrated his 81st birthday in 2010 and it is the 25th anniversary of the national holiday in his honor. The day is celebrated in all 50 states and over 100 countries around the world. State, federal, and most private offices are close on the holiday, but many events emphasize public service with the official theme, “A Day On, Not a Day Off.”
In Atlanta, the King Center held their annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church. It featured tributes to the life and legacy of Dr. King from national and international leaders.
Speakers and guests for 2010 included Dr. Cornel West, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isaacson, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, King Center Vice Chair/Treasurer Christine King Farris, and Elder Bernice A. King.
“The theme [of the holiday] reiterates the importance of remembering Dr. King’s work and legacy, celebrating his birthday as a national holiday and acting on his teachings and principles of nonviolence and human rights,” states the King Center on its Web site. They add that “it also serves as a reminder that the holiday is a day on for community service initiatives and programs promoting interracial cooperation, not just a day off from work or school.”
In Denver, the largest parade in the country for the holiday drew a crowd of about 20,000, according to media reports.
In Miami, a warehouse for Haiti relief operations was opened by Christian relief organization World Vision, a development organization that says they are putting Martin Luther King Jr.’s “message of hope and potential for all people into action.”
The 90,000 sq. ft. warehouse will be used to house emergency and recovery goods donated for victims of the earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12. World Vision is using this opportunity to introduce the facility to the public and to area businesses to encourage their involvement in relief efforts.
“We need to come together and collaborate effectively to have a bigger impact in Haiti,” stated Haitian Pastor David Augustin of Miami Vineyard Community Church in a press release. “Individual churches are doing their own small things, which is good, but that’s a small rock making a small ripple in a big ocean. We need to come together and have a much bigger impact as soon as we can, demonstrating God’s love and care.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., would have celebrated his 81st birthday in 2010 and it is the 25th anniversary of the national holiday in his honor. The day is celebrated in all 50 states and over 100 countries around the world. State, federal, and most private offices are close on the holiday, but many events emphasize public service with the official theme, “A Day On, Not a Day Off.”
In Atlanta, the King Center held their annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church. It featured tributes to the life and legacy of Dr. King from national and international leaders.
Speakers and guests for 2010 included Dr. Cornel West, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isaacson, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, King Center Vice Chair/Treasurer Christine King Farris, and Elder Bernice A. King.
“The theme [of the holiday] reiterates the importance of remembering Dr. King’s work and legacy, celebrating his birthday as a national holiday and acting on his teachings and principles of nonviolence and human rights,” states the King Center on its Web site. They add that “it also serves as a reminder that the holiday is a day on for community service initiatives and programs promoting interracial cooperation, not just a day off from work or school.”
In Denver, the largest parade in the country for the holiday drew a crowd of about 20,000, according to media reports.
In Miami, a warehouse for Haiti relief operations was opened by Christian relief organization World Vision, a development organization that says they are putting Martin Luther King Jr.’s “message of hope and potential for all people into action.”
The 90,000 sq. ft. warehouse will be used to house emergency and recovery goods donated for victims of the earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12. World Vision is using this opportunity to introduce the facility to the public and to area businesses to encourage their involvement in relief efforts.
“We need to come together and collaborate effectively to have a bigger impact in Haiti,” stated Haitian Pastor David Augustin of Miami Vineyard Community Church in a press release. “Individual churches are doing their own small things, which is good, but that’s a small rock making a small ripple in a big ocean. We need to come together and have a much bigger impact as soon as we can, demonstrating God’s love and care.”
World Vision has been working in Haiti for 30 years. They will be collaborating with Operation Hope for Haiti in relief efforts and invite other businesses and groups to join them in the relief effort. A number of South Florida churches have already joined the effort.
The South Carolina conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held their 10th annual King Day and a march.
NACCP National President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous spoke at the event. Jealous used the opportunity to say that the civil rights organization will push harder to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds, reported the Associated Press.
Ten years ago at the first King Day event in South Carolina, a crowd of 50,000 rallied to demand that the state remove the Confederate flag flying above the Statehouse dome.
President Obama, who at the time was a U.S. senator seeking the democratic nomination, spoke at the S.C. King Day at the dome event in 2008. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama marked the day by serving lunch in the dining room at So Others Might Eat, a soup kitchen in Washington, D.C.
In addition, 10 cabinet secretaries and senior administration officials participated in community service projects in Washington.
In Michigan, the seventh annual MLK Day Rally and march was held in downtown Detroit, honoring the civil rights leader’s legacy of peace and social justice.
The theme for the 2010 rally and march was, “Join the Struggle for Jobs, Peace and Economic Justice.”
Parade organizers pointed out that the high unemployment rate in Detroit is “at depression-era levels of 29 percent to 45 percent,” and the crisis requires “the initiation of a new mass movement to demand a real jobs program to employ the 30 million million people in the United States who are either unemployed or underemployed.”
The South Carolina conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held their 10th annual King Day and a march.
NACCP National President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous spoke at the event. Jealous used the opportunity to say that the civil rights organization will push harder to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds, reported the Associated Press.
Ten years ago at the first King Day event in South Carolina, a crowd of 50,000 rallied to demand that the state remove the Confederate flag flying above the Statehouse dome.
President Obama, who at the time was a U.S. senator seeking the democratic nomination, spoke at the S.C. King Day at the dome event in 2008. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama marked the day by serving lunch in the dining room at So Others Might Eat, a soup kitchen in Washington, D.C.
In addition, 10 cabinet secretaries and senior administration officials participated in community service projects in Washington.
In Michigan, the seventh annual MLK Day Rally and march was held in downtown Detroit, honoring the civil rights leader’s legacy of peace and social justice.
The theme for the 2010 rally and march was, “Join the Struggle for Jobs, Peace and Economic Justice.”
Parade organizers pointed out that the high unemployment rate in Detroit is “at depression-era levels of 29 percent to 45 percent,” and the crisis requires “the initiation of a new mass movement to demand a real jobs program to employ the 30 million million people in the United States who are either unemployed or underemployed.”
