Communities across the Golden Triangle will honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., beginning Saturday and lasting until Wednesday with marches, worship services and service projects focused on unity, justice and community engagement.
Columbus
United Way of the Golden Triangle Region will partner with the city of Columbus to coordinate a service project aimed at restoring and restocking the mini food pantries located across the county. Volunteers are asked to adopt a pantry from the United Way website, remove and replace expired items, clean it and make any repairs it might need.
Renee Sanders, director for the area United Way chapter, said there are 28 mini pantries scattered across Columbus, Caledonia, Crawford and Artesia. In lieu of adopting a pantry, volunteers can collect food to drop off at Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, or a financial donation can be made out to the Lowndes County Community Benefit Committee.
Columbus will also host a freedom walk starting at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the Municipal Complex and ending at Trotter Convention Center, located at 123 Fifth St. N.
A prayer breakfast will be held immediately after in the upper level of the building. Denise Jones Gregory, interim president for Jackson State University, will speak at the breakfast, which will also include prayer, live music and readings.
Following the breakfast, there will be a community reading of King’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” in the lower level of the Trotter.
Shawanda Jones, public information officer for the city, said this year’s theme “From words to work: pressing beyond the dream,” emphasizes action.
“What the committee really wanted to do this year is share the importance of it not only taking, of course, a dream and a vision to make things happen, but we have to put action behind that,” Jones told The Dispatch. “So we’re constantly looking to move forward where we are with the progress for the city and the community, but we have to be able to match our actions to our words. So this right here is just a reminder of what we can do as a city when we come together as one and reflect on the actions, the dream and the life of Dr. King.”
Starkville
The Oktibbeha County Branch of the NAACP will host its annual Unity March at 1:30 p.m. Monday. Prior to the march, there will be a worship service beginning at 10 a.m. at New Zion United Methodist Church.
Those who would like to march should line up in front of Unity Park before 1:30 p.m. The route will travel north Douglas L. Conner Drive to Jefferson Street, then south on North Lafayette Street, before turning on East Main Street to conclude in front of Unity Park.
The program will end with remarks from Rev. Jerry Jefferson, vice president of the branch.
“Our theme is going to be to press on,” Jefferson told The Dispatch on Thursday. “Just continuing to press on this generation as we pass the torch later on to the next generation. It’s about persevering. … It is our desire that we have a street full of people coming to help celebrate this monumental event.”
Jefferson said commemorating King’s legacy is especially important for younger generations.
“We know the past,” he said. “We know the history of how things were, and we can’t allow injustice to rise up and to rule again like it did in the past. Even though we can’t just stop it altogether, but we can come against it every time injustice raises its ugly head up.
There’s going to be people, men and women of all race, creed, color, coming together against injustice, and so that’s basically what the march, to me, is all about – making sure that people understand freedom, that the young people understand justice, learn to recognize injustice and learn to fight against injustice. And we just have to continue the fight.”
Observances will continue at 5 p.m. with a chapel service in the Chapel of Memories at Mississippi State University. The event will feature a performance by student-group Black Voices, followed by a reception in the YMCA Building lobby, according to an MSU press release.
Events will continue Tuesday and Wednesday with MLK Days of Service, where students will make emergency winter kits for the homeless in the Colvard Student Union Ballroom at MSU.
West Point
On Saturday, there will be a dry food drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Mary Holmes College Gymnasium, sponsored by Davidson Chapel C.M.E. Church. Volunteers are asked to bring dry and non-perishable canned foods.
West Point’s annual march honoring King will begin at 9 a.m. Monday. The assembly will meet at the intersection of East Half Mile Street and Martin Luther King Drive before marching through town and ending at Mary Holmes College Gymnasium.
A program will begin at the gymnasium at 9:45 a.m., and will feature performances by the West Point High School Drumline and the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Drill Team.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
