Jan. 14—Spokane residents will have ample opportunity to recognize and celebrate the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at a slate of events leading up to his namesake holiday Monday.
The federal holiday and Spokane’s annual march honoring the life and work of the prominent civil rights leader fall on Monday, but the celebrations will begin this week and carry on throughout the weekend.
The first of several regional events will be held Wednesday at Spokane Falls Community College, where the Black Student Union is hosting a celebration and educational workshop from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the college’s student union building. Lisa Gardner, president of the Spokane NAACP branch, will be the keynote speaker.
“I’m looking to impart some words on them in regards to the meaning of not only MLK Day, but how the NAACP and MLK Day kind of go together in that fight for civil rights and social justice, and that they are the future,” Gardner said. “They’re the ones that are going to continue to carry on Dr. King’s dream into the future.”
On Sunday, the Black Minister Alliance and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center are partnering for a commemoration service and celebration at the Holy Temple Church of God in Christ at 806 W. Indiana Ave. The service will begin at 3 p.m. and end at 5 p.m., according to the center.
Following the service, the Spokane NAACP is inviting community members to join them for a “fireside chat” with Jaime Stacy, a Spokane Public Schools educator and founder of the Strong Women Achieve Greatness mentorship group. Stacy’s talk will begin at 6 p.m. at the Spokane North Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 401 W. Regina Avenue. Refreshments will be provided.
The annual unity rally, march and resource fair hosted by the MLK Center, usually Spokane’s most well-attended event, will take place Monday at the Spokane Convention Center. Community leaders will give remarks beginning at 10 a.m., before marching through downtown at 10:45 a.m.
The resource fair will follow the rally and march within the convention center from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and will coincide with a “teach-in” hosted by Gonzaga University’s Unity Multicultural Education Center. The focus of the lesson will be “Closing the Gaps Through Awareness,” a discussion on what continuing King’s work may look like, according to the university’s website.
Gardner said the holiday and the many events in Spokane to mark the occasion provide an opportunity for the community to not only reflect on how King “changed the trajectory of our country,” but the work still to be done.
“I think that each year, by honoring that, it’s a reset,” Gardner said. “It’s allowing us to remember and get grounded and continue that work and make sure that if we’re not doing better, to do better in the future.”