NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Martin Luther King Jr. Day is coming up and there are plenty of ways you can honor and celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. King fought for the well-being of all and he encouraged those to give back to their community. So one way you can push forth his legacy is to look for ways to help others in your community.
Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Montgomery, Alabama, 1957
King once said "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve" and the same is true to this day.
This year, why not look into volunteering? Hands On Nashville has numerous opportunities all throughout Middle Tennessee.
Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.
The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society.
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Maroon Tiger, 1947
Another way you can spend your time is by learning more about Black History and its impact on Nashville. You can head to Fisk University and the Aaron Douglas Gallery, named after one of the most influential visual artists of the Harlem Renaissance.
Walk on over to the Tennessee State Museum and see the exhibitions that showcase Black History from the state's beginning and continues through Civil Rights Movements.
You can also visit the Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library and explore the Civil Rights Collection, sit at a symbolic lunch counter where students and other activists staged sit-ins and connect with history.
If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., address at Spelman College, 1960
Events celebrating Dr. King will take place all across Nashville beginning Wednesday, January 10th.
On that Wednesday, MLK Day Nashville will host a community banner day ahead of Monday's march. Their theme this year is: Why We Can't Wait: Activating Our Power for Equity in Justice.
On Thursday, January 11, A MLK Day Black Tie Gala will be held at the Cal Turner Center from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets to this event can be found here.
Friday, January 12, Rev. Darryl Gray will be the Keynote Speaker at the Labor & Human Rights Breakfast at the Scarritt Bennett Conference Center. There they will discuss the intersection of labor, faith and civil rights.
The event will run from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and tickets can be found here.
On Saturday, January 13, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., a Youth Symposium will take place at MLK Academic Magnet School. There, the panel will discuss activism, knowledge, opportunities and messaging and the influence it has on leadership.
Registration is required.
Sunday, January 14 features a discussion on the power and promise of equitable education. This panel will speak at the Wightman Chapel at Scarritt Bennett Center from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
On Monday, January 15, people will march down historic Jefferson Street during the Annual March to Gentry. Following the march, the annual convocation will take place at the Gentry Center with Keynote Speaker Nikki Giovanni.
Additional events include:
January 13:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation: from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Fisk University
MLK Joint Day of Service: from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Meharry Medical College
January 14:
Nashville Symphony hosts annual Let Freedom Sing concert, honoring the life, legacy and triumphs of Dr. King. This event is free and starts at 7:30 p.m.
January 15:
Nashville MLK Day March and Convocation: from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Vanderbilt & Historic Jefferson Street.
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