(Featured image of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Drew Burks/Pexels)
The legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lives on with multiple events planned over the holiday weekend and through the month.
At noon Friday, Jan. 12, Augusta Technical College, Augusta University and Paine College will come together for the 2024 tri-college program honoring King.
Dr. Otis S. Johnson, chair of the Racial Equity and Leadership Task Force, will be the guest speaker for the event that will be held at noon at the Jack B. Patrick Information Technology Center at Augusta Technical College’s Augusta Campus, according to a news release from Augusta Tech.
For more than three decades, Reformed Jewish congregations have observed the Friday Shabbat service before Martin Luther King Jr. Day to celebrating the values and life of the slain Civil Rights Leader.
Known as the Shabbat Tzedek, a sabbath of Justice, the program will feature the Rev. Rickey Dent of Keys Grove Baptist Church and the Rev. Dr. Charles Goodman of Tabernacle Baptist Church at 7 p.m., Jan. 12 at the Congregation Children of Israel Walton Way, according to a news release from The Congregation Children of Israel.
Also beginning Friday, the Augusta Mini Theatre will present “Telling Our Stories Through Poetry,” at 8 p.m. Jan. 12, and at 3 p.m. Jan. 13-15 and 21-22 and Feb. 17-18 at Augusta Mini Theatre on Deans Bridge Road. Read more about the play here.
Each January and then again for Black History Month, the Mini Theatre presents a show to honor King’s legacy.
On Saturday, the City of Augusta and the Augusta Branch of the NAACP will host the 2024 Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade beginning at 1 p.m. from the Dyess Park Community Center, 902 James Brown Blvd.
The Parade will proceed south on James Brown Boulevard, then west onto Wrightsboro Road, north onto Augusta Avenue, east onto Laney Walker Boulevard., and then north onto 11th Street to Johnson Motors, according to a Facebook post at the City of Augusta Government’s Facebook page.
Another event in the spirit of the weekend focuses on racism and antisemitism.
The Augusta Jewish Museum and the Jewish Community Center and Federation of Augusta will present a panel discussion on racism and antisemitism at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14 at the Linda Beazley Community Room, 535 Telfair St., according to a news release from the Augusta Jewish Community Center.
Agnes Mueller, professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of South Carolina will give the keynote speech “Holocaust Memory and Antisemitism,” followed by a panel discussion with Bobby Christine, District Attorney for the Columbia County Judicial Circuit, Richard Rogers, Channel 12/26 news anchor and Mara Price Zeichner, Assistant Campus Director, University of Georgia Hillel.
A question-and-answer session will follow.
The 16th annual Interfaith Celebration bringing together people from various religious sectors of the community will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 17 at Sacred Heart Cultural Center, according to a news release from Sacred Heart Cultural Center.
“Keeping the Dream Alive: Why Dr. King’s Message Still Matters” is the theme of the event that will feature Jon Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize–winning author of 15 bestsellers. Two of his works are “His Truth Is Marching on: John Lewis and the Power of Hope” and “The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels.”
He is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, a contributing writer for “The New York Times Book Review,” a fellow of the Society of American Historians, and a frequent commentator on MSNBC and CNN.
The University of South Carolina Aiken and Aiken Technical College will combine for a Jan. 21 event at the University of South Carolina Aiken Convocation Center, 2049 Champion Way, Graniteville. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m., with the event starting at 3 p.m.
NBA legend and South Carolina native Alex English will provide the keynote address, according to a news release from Aiken Technical College.
“English, renowned for his decorated basketball career and his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, played college basketball at the University of South Carolina before being drafted in the 1976 NBA draft. He played 15 seasons in the NBA with four teams and scored more points than any other NBA player during the 1980s. He was named to eight NBA All-Star teams, and his No. 2 jersey was retired by the Denver Nuggets in 1992,” the release said.
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