Celebrations scheduled in honor of Dr. King

Host Pastor Rev. Marvin Mercer, Sr. and the congregation of Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church will host this year’s Twin Cities of Fulton and South Fulton’s celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jan. 20, beginning at 6 p.m.

The church facility is located at 116 Roach St. in South Fulton.

The theme for the evening will be “Reignite The Dream” with featured guest speaker, Daniel Gates, a student at the University of Tennessee, Martin.

Gates grew up in West Tennessee, the son of Marissa Gates Washington and grandson of Anthony Gates.

He is currently enrolled at UTM, where he is part of the Call Me MiSTER Program, a teacher leadership endeavor, which provides participants with tools necessary to succeed as pre-service teachers.

Gates sees his main goal as impacting lives in a notably positive way, as he leads other by his actions and advice.

The program will also include musical selections, in remembrance of Dr. King, as event organizers recognize over 50 years have passed since the death of Dr. King, signifying a generation has been born who never knew him in the flesh, and therefore, to assume everyone remembers him, or who he was, would be an “awful mistake.”

The public is invited to attend.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day will be observed in Hickman, with a March beginning at New Bryant Chapel Freewill Baptist Church, located on Atwood Street, at 11:30 a.m., Jan. 20, traveling to Thomas Chapel Church on South Seventh Street.

Bro. Craig Clay of St. John #3 M.B. Church in Tiptonville, Tenn., will be the guest speaker beginning at 12 noon. Special music will be rendered by the St. John #2 Male Chorus.

Every church is asked to encourage youth and members to participate in the Memorial service, according to Kimberly Hagler, Coordinator of the March.

Dr. King was an American Christian minister and activist, born Jan. 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Ga.

He became the most visible spokesperson and leader of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination on April 4, 1968.

“I Have a Dream” was Dr. King’s was his most famous speech. It was given at the Lincoln Memorial for the 1963 March on Washington, DC for Jobs and Freedom. King urged America to “make real the promises of democracy.”