‘He talks of peace.’ Lexington MLK Day celebration features social justice advocate
The city’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration will begin Monday with a downtown march and will culminate in a speech from a nationally known progressive minister and a “consciousness-raising” musical performance from a Lexington-born artist.
Co-sponsored annually by the University of Kentucky and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, the Freedom March will leave from Heritage Hall in the Central Bank Center—the recently renamed Lexington Convention Center—at 10 a.m.
Marchers can begin lining up inside Heritage Hall on West Main Street at 9 a.m., a University of Kentucky press release with details on the march stated.
According to Terry Allen, the event’s coordinator and UK’s associate vice president for institutional equity, the approximately mile and half march will proceed from Heritage Hall down Vine Street, will turn north down Rose Street and return to the convention center via Main Street.
After the march, a commemorative program will begin at 11 a.m. inside Heritage Hall. Rev. Delman Coates, a progressive minister who pastors Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Maryland, will be the featured speaker.
“Dr. King’s movement for nonviolent resistance was informed by a moral vision of peace, justice, and inclusion,” Coates said in press release. “The fight for economic justice is the unfinished work of Dr. King and is just as relevant today as it was 52 years ago.”
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Allen said Coates’ national prominence as a social justice advocate has been rising “very, very rapidly.” Coates advocates for economic and healthcare reform and gender and racial equality.
“He talks of peace,” Allen said.
In 2013, Coates ran for Maryland’s Lt. Governorship, under a democratic candidate for governor.
“We still struggle to develop a sustainable economy that works for the masses of the American people, and the best way to remember him is to build broad-based support from robust policies that would end involuntary unemployment; provide universal, single-payer health care; protect the environment; abolish student loan debt; promote racial cooperation; and prevent senseless war,” Coates said.
Lexington-born, Atlanta-raised soul musician DONNIE will wrap up the program. According to the musician’s biography, DONNIE’s “Neo-Soul” music is politically oriented and “consciousness-raising.”
Allen, who said he began helping organize the march in 1984, said march has grown from close to 50 participants marching around the perimeter of the University of Kentucky campus to a large downtown march which attracts thousands. He called the event a “symbol of unity, a symbol of hope.”
“It’s truly an inspiration to see so many people participate.” Allen said.