EAST LANSING — Events celebrating civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. started this week throughout the region, ahead of Monday’s national recognition of his legacy.
A free Community Unity Dinner is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. the evening of Thursday, Jan. 16, at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center on Harrison Road. Registration is a requirement.
“Community was extremely important to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” organizers said on an MSU web page. “During his short lifetime of 39 years, he came to understand and appreciate the interrelatedness of all humanity.
“Dr. King would repeatedly say in speeches and writings that, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
MSU events will continue through next week and include an MLK Commemorative March, beginning at 9 a.m. Monday from the Beaumont Tower to the new Multicultural Center at the northeast corner of North Shaw Lane and Farm Lane and west of Shaw Hall.
The new building, budgeted at $38 million, is intended for classes and forums and as a safe space for minority students.
Another big MLK Day event for the region is the 40th Annual Day of Celebration happening at the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Ave., at 11 a.m. Monday. Civil rights activist Bernard Lafayette will be the keynote speaker.
Tickets are $60 and can be purchased at https://greaterlansingmlk.squarespace.com/tickets.
Contact editor Susan Vela at svela@lsj.com or 248-873-7044. Follow her on Twitter @susanvela.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: How to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Greater Lansing