Charleston’s 14th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade will be held Monday.
The event, which coincides with the national observance of the late civil rights leader’s birth, is sponsored each year by a local committee.
The parade will start at 1 p.m., said Carolyn Johnson, one of the organizers, who noted that lineup for the parade will begin at noon at the former National Guard armory, 409 S. Cossar Ave.
“Churches, clubs, groups, organizations and anyone else that would like to participate in the parade are welcome,” Johnson said. Face masks are required to be worn, and those who take part in the parade are asked to display on their vehicle, a sign or banner honoring Dr. King.
Face masks will be passed out along the parade route.
Entry in the parade is free. Contact Johnson at 647-1346 or Lillie Smith at 625-2055 for additional information.
Due to the pandemic, the traditional post-parade memorial program at New Town Missionary Baptist Church has been canceled this year, Johnson noted. That event features speakers and musical guests in a service celebrating the life and legacy of King.
Monday’s Charleston festivities, and similarly styled celebrations planned across the United States, are a part of the federal holiday begun in 1986 to observe King’s birthday each year on the third Monday of January, which is around the time of his actual birthday, Jan. 15.
King, who once came to Charleston as part of his work for nonviolent activism and social reform during the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. He was 39 years old. The Lorraine is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum.
