The dream is still remembered.
On Sunday and Monday, the Emporia community and Emporia State University will hold celebrations in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
King, one of the most notable figures of the black civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, was assassinated in 1968. Martin Luther King Day, the third Monday of each January, has been observed as a federal holiday since 1986.
In Emporia, the community Martin Luther King Jr. program will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday at the First Christian Church, 202 E. 12th Ave. This is the seventh year for the program, which is held each year at a different Emporia church.
This year’s speaker at the community program will be the Rev. Gregory Gray of Lawrence, from the Christ Church of Second Chances. According to a 2000 Lawrence Journal-World article, Gray is a former Black Panther and gang member who turned his life around after finding his faith. He eventually became a pastor, prison chaplain, substance abuse therapist and crisis intervention specialist.
Donations of food or money for the program are appreciated. Those interested or wanting more information about the program should call Al Slappy at 481-9622.
On Monday, ESU will precede its celebration with a Martin Luther King Jr. children’s art project from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Webb Lecture Hall at the Memorial Union. The children’s artwork will be displayed at the evening’s celebration, which begins at 6 p.m. in the union’s Colonial Ballroom.
Desserts and beverages will be served at 6 p.m. The main program, “Together, We Stand for Freedom,” will start at 6:30 p.m. with keynote speaker Kathy Williams, a school psychologist at William Allen White Elementary School and pastoral assistant at Grace United Methodist Church.
The program will begin with a welcome by ESU President Michael Lane and performances by the Harmonious Voices of Praise Gospel Choir. The evening will also include poetry and readings by Emporia State University students.
The community and the university events are free and open to the public.