In honor of MLK’s 80th Birthday

Posted on by Mannie Dalton

The Asheville-Buncombe County Martin Luther King Jr. Association’s observation of Dr. King’s 80th birthday culminates today, on MLK Day, with two free public events: a peace walk and rally and a candlelight service.

The peace walk and rally begins at noon at Nazareth First Baptist Church, located at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Pine Street near downtown Asheville. From the church, walkers will head to MLK Jr. Park for a program of speeches and music. Afterwards, everyone is invited to a fish-fry sandwich lunch at St. James AME Church. Participants are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items to be donated to MANNA FoodBank.

The candlelight service begins at 6 p.m. at St. Matthias Episcopal Church. The ceremony will be in remembrance of those less fortunate and will also serve as a reminder of the continued need to combat injustice. Twelve local nonprofit organizations will be honored, and the 2009 Martin Luther King Jr. Award will be presented to a Buncombe County resident. The Reynolds-Miller Chorale, directed by Trevor Chavis, will perform.

— Mannie Dalton, calendar editor

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3 thoughts on “In honor of MLK’s 80th Birthday”

  1. Chad Nesbitt

    FOR THE RECORD
    On November 2, 1983, Republican President Ronald Reagan signed the bill in the White House Rose Garden making the Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a national holiday. The bill first came up for a vote in 1979, but the Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives refused to pass the legislation. The first national celebration of the holiday in honor of Dr. King took place on January 20, 1986 and is celebrated on the 3rd Monday in January. In his remarks on signing the bill Reagan said: “Dr. King had awakened something strong and true, a sense that true justice must be colorblind, and that among white and black Americans, as he put it, ‘Their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom; we cannot walk alone.'”

    The Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission with the mission of overseeing the observance of the MLK holiday was created in the bill signed by Reagan.

    In May 1989, Coretta Scott King was made a member of the commission for life by Republican President George H. W. Bush.

    Democrats today are trying to usurp Dr. King’s legacy, when in reality it was the Democrats who Dr. King was fighting.

  2. Piffy!

    Those wascally Democrats.

    Thank God for the Republican Party.

    Obama is a total racist.

  3. Piffy!

    So, Strom Thurmond was a Democrat?

    Cuz I’ve always been more of an Arthur B Payne kinda Democrat myself.

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