Charlotte will celebrate King holiday with 4 days of events

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 87 this week. Charlotte will celebrate the annual holiday honoring the martyred civil rights leader with four days of events. Among the highlights: a memorial service, a parade, community service projects, interfaith services, a breakfast and a host of lectures, films and performances at local museums.

The city’s 2016 MLK Holiday Parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. It will include more than 100 community organizations, marching bands, step and drill teams as well as floats with the student winners of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ annual MLK art and writing contests. The parade will start at North Tryon and 10th streets and end at South Tryon and Stonewall streets.

On Monday – the actual holiday – more than 1,300 people are expected to attend the McCrorey YMCA’s 22nd annual MLK Holiday Breakfast. It’s set to start at 8 a.m. at the Charlotte Convention Center’s Crown Ballroom, 501 S. College St. This year’s keynote speaker: former state Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte. He will talk about his journey to forgiveness after the June 2015 murder of his sister, Cynthia Hurd, and eight other members of Emanuel AME, a historic African-American church in Charleston. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at www.ez-tixx.com/2016-mlk-holiday-breakfast/.

Some of the other planned activities:

▪ Friday: A noon-1 p.m. memorial service at Marshall Park, 800 E. 3rd St., will include a wreath-laying ceremony.

▪ Friday and Sunday: Temple Beth El, a mostly white Jewish synagogue, and Statesville Avenue Presbyterian, a predominantly black church, will hold joint worship services at the temple (7 p.m. Friday, 5101 Providence Road) and at the church (11 a.m. Sunday, 3435 Nevin Road). Rabbi Judy Schindler and the Rev. Amantha Barbee will speak on the theme “Two Women, Two Faiths, One Message: Justice, Equality and Love.”

▪ Saturday: The annual MLK Growing the Dream Award luncheon honoring those who serve will be held at 1:30 p.m. at Johnson C. Smith University, 100 Beatties Ford Road.

▪ Saturday: Hands on Charlotte will organize service projects for hundreds of volunteers 1-4 p.m. at two locations: East Mecklenburg High School (6800 Monroe Road) and the Military & Global Leadership Academy at Marie G. Davis (3351 Griffith St.).

▪ Sunday and Monday: Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. 7th St., will offer free admission both days. Activities Sunday (12-4 p.m.) will include children’s story time and a screening of “The Children’s March.” On Monday (10 a.m.-4 p.m.), the museum will host the McCrorey YMCA’s senior African drummers and a presentation on Charlotte’s black history featuring former Observer associate editor Fannie Flono.

▪ Monday: U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri will speak at a Community Mass Meeting that will also feature music, readings and dance, 10 a.m.-noon in Halton Theater at Central Piedmont Community College, 1206 Elizabeth Ave.

▪ Monday: The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, 551 S. Tryon St., will have free admission all day for Living the Legacy: MLK Day at the Gantt Center. Offerings will include a 10 a.m. panel discussion on Charlotte’s civil rights legacy and two workshops (12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.) on “Write your own ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.”

▪ Monday: At 11 a.m., the McCrorey YMCA, 3801 Beatties Ford Road, will host its 4th annual MLK Teen Summit. Discussions will cover social justice and higher education. The Harding University Marching Band will perform. The keynote speaker will be actor/philanthropist/author Terrence J.

This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Charlotte will celebrate King holiday with 4 days of events."