This year, even amidst a global pandemic, many facets of the community are coming together to celebrate MLK Day and continue Dr. King’s legacy of activism and service.

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and there are many ways to celebrate on, and ahead of, the holiday on the January 18.

The Town of Carrboro is hosting a webinar event on Saturday, January 16 titled “He Had a Dream, Are We Living It?,” which will celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The event will run from 1 to 3 p.m. as an online panel discussion featuring six guest speakers including Kendall Lytle (Youth Advisory Board and NAACPYC Member), Niya Fearrington (Political Science, Howard University), Tai T. Huynh (Chapel Hill Town Council), Lt. Will Quick (Chapel Hill Police Department) and more.

Those interested in registering for the webinar in advance can click here.

On Sunday, UNC will host its 36th annual University/Community Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Banquet, which will be held virtually on January 17. Members of the Chapel Hill and Orange County community are all invited to attend.

One of the events most prominent organizers and community activists, Lillian Lee, said not only does this event honor the legacy of Dr. King, but the proceeds from the $20 dollar tickets sales go towards raising scholarship funds for local high school students.

“We’ve given more than 300 scholarships to the students in Orange County and a couple of university students,” Lee said. “We do that every year. Last year we gave about $15,000 dollars so we always encourage people to please, please, please continue to support our scholarship fund because we have so many worthy, needy students that could benefit from it.”

This year’s banquet speakers will include former North Carolina Superior Court Judge Carl Fox, Governor Roy Cooper, UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and other special guests. This year’s theme is “Presence of Justice.”

You can register for the event, or make a donation, here.

Another virtual event is being held by The Chapel Hill – Carrboro NAACP commemorating the life of Dr. King on Monday, January 18.

This year’s event theme is “Lift Every Voice for Justice!” featuring keynote speaker Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II.

Anna Richards, the outgoing President for the Chapel Hill – Carrboro NAACP, said the commemoration of this national holiday is an opportunity for the community to come together.

“It’s one of my favorite events,” Richards said. “It’s organized by our Religious Affairs Committee and it’s usually done at First Baptist Church but this year it will be a virtual event. Hopefully, that will allow folks to join in and be safe.”

Find more details abut that virtual event here.

Also on Monday, Book Harvest is hosting its annual Dream Big Book Drive. Ginger Young, the Executive Director of Book Harvest, said every year the nonprofit celebrates the power of community by providing an abundance of books and ongoing literacy support to families and their children.

“Dream Big marks my favorite day of the entire year,” Young said. “Unbelievably, this is our tenth year running Dream Big – which is a giant book drive and community celebration. We always observe it on the afternoon of MLK Day.”

This year, the book drive will be known as the Dream Big Drive-Through – a newly designed, contactless celebration where community members are invited to drop off donations of new and gently used children’s books. Last year, Book Harvest collected 42,000 books in one day.

“We are treating this year as an opportunity to do some really important connecting during this time of profound social isolation,” Young said. “Which is asking people to come to our drive-through book drive, to show up at Durham Central Park between noon and four on Doctor King’s birthday.”

Learn more about the Dream Big Book Drive here.

Lead photo via the Town of Carrboro Recreation, Parks, & Cultural Resources Department.

 

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