In the coming weeks, Greenville like cities across the nation will organize community and faith based activities to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Forty-five years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. In dying he became larger than life in the hearts and minds of a people who never had a hero. A scholar, a minister, an activist, and an advocate of nonviolence, Dr. King put a voice and a face to the plight of the black man in this country. His eloquent voice filled with spiritual fervor shattered the stereotypical image of black people and pulled down the strongholds that held them captive. While his participation and leadership in key historical events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legitimized a people's desire and determination to be free and equal.
Dr. King's birthday has been a federal holiday since 1986; it has been celebrated in Greenville as the MLK Dream Weekend since 2006. The MLK Dream Weekend, initiated by the pastor of Valleybrook Outreach Baptist Church, Pastor Curtis Johnson, honors the King legacy by celebrating the diversity of the upstate community. In Greenville, one way you can honor a king is by serving others.
This year the Dream Weekend will begin with a prayer vigil on Friday, January 11, 2013 in Falls Park at 7:00 p.m. The crown jewel of the Dream Weekend is the Diversity Banquet. Nikki Giovanni, an educator, poet, and activist is the keynote speaker of the event which will be held on Thursday, January 17, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency. The banquet begins at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, January 19, 2013 is the MLK Community Day of Service. Working in conjunction with Hands on Greenville, it gives the community an opportunity to volunteer for a day with service providers like Meals on Wheels and the Greenville Free Health Clinic. The annual celebration comes to an end on Monday, January 21, 2013 from 9-11 a.m. at Greenville High School with Dreams in Action. This part of the celebration encourages the people of Greenville and surrounding counties to take action in their pursuit of positive dreams. One Voice with JDrew will provide the motivation and the entertainment for this event.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a spiritual and intellectual giant who might have been doomed to a life of mediocrity because of his color and the nation of his birth, but fate had another plan in mind. It pushed Dr. King into places few black men had ever gone before, and when he got to the mountaintop, he saw what was waiting for us on the other side. This year as you honor the life of this great man, do something that serves someone else and truly honors a king www.mlkdreamweekend.com/diversity-banquet.
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