Charleston’s 13th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade and memorial program will be held Monday, Jan. 20.
The theme of this year’s local observance is, “Stronger Together.”
The events, which coincide with the national observance of the civil rights leader’s birth, are sponsored each year by a local committee.
The parade will start at 11 a.m., said Carolyn Johnson, one of the organizers, who noted that parade lineup will begin at 10 on South Panola Street in the city.
The public is encouraged to take part in the procession.
“All churches, clubs, groups, organizations and anyone that would like to participate are welcome to attend,” Johnson added. “The cost is free, but we do ask for you to please have a sign display about Dr. King.”
Parade entrants may contact Johnson at 647-1346 or Lillie Smith at 625-2055 for more information.
Johnson said the parade travel to the hospital before resuming its usual route westward along Walnut Street, turning north onto Franklin, east onto Main and round the south side of the courthouse before turning north onto Martin Luther King Drive en route to the final destination, New Town Missionary Baptist Church.
Immediately following the parade, at approximately noon, a special memorial program celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. King will begin at New Town Missionary Baptist Church, on Martin Luther King Jr. Street.
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 on the third Monday of January each year, 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.
