Memorial and Wreath-Laying Ceremony
Tuesday, January 15 at 12 p.m. at Marshall Park
Held in Marshall Park to commemorate the life and death of Dr. King, this year's event features community leaders Glenn Thomas and Jibril Huff, along with Charlotte City Council member LaWana Mayfield.
CMS MLK Art and Writing Contest Awards Ceremony
Thursday, January 17, 6:30 - 8 p.m. at West Charlotte High School
Now in its 19th year, the annual Art and Writing Contest is a district-wide competition of students' work. School winners will be recognized, and district-level competition winners will be announced. All first-place winners receive an honorarium and have an opportunity to share their work throughout the community starting on January 20.
City of Charlotte MLK Holiday Parade
Saturday, January 19, 11 a.m. at North Tryon & 9th Streets
The parade runs along North Tryon Street from 9th Street to Stonewall Street and features local high school marching bands, Junior ROTC, steppers, Greek letter fraternities and sororities, social and community service organizations, City and County elected officials and religious and community leaders. A special celebrity guest will serve as the parade marshal. The event is sponsored in part by the City of Charlotte, Food Lion, Coca Cola, Lance, Power 98 FM and V101.9. All top performances will be awarded prize money totaling $6,000.
Second Emancipation Proclamation Discussion
On Saturday, January 19, 2 p.m. at the Main Library, 320 N. Tryon Street
A discussion will be held on MLK, Jr. and the 2nd Emancipation Proclamation. In 1961 and 1962 Dr. King appealed to President Kennedy to issue a Second Emancipation Proclamation outlawing segregation in commemoration of the centennial of Lincoln's proclamation of 1863. He sent Kennedy a 75 page appeal on May 17, 1962 requesting a "national rededication to the principles of the Emancipation Proclamation and for an executive order ending segregation. This program will review the elements of this document and its influence on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Holiday Prayer Breakfast
Monday, January 21, 8 a.m. at the Charlotte Convention Center
The H.L. McCrorey Family YMCA presents its 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast at the Charlotte Convention Center's Crown Ballroom. Tickets are $45 per person and are available at www.ez-tixx.com. Doors open at 7:15 a.m. Click here for details.
'Lincoln and the Emancipation' Lecture
Saturday, January 26, 2 p.m. at the Main Library, 320 N. Tryon Street
Dr. John David Smith will present a lecture "As firmly linked to 'Africanus' as was that of the celebrated Scipio": Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation, and the U.S. Colored Troops. Dr. Smith is the Charles H. Stone Distinguished Professor of American History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he teaches courses on the American South, the Civil War, and African-American slavery and emancipation.
