This year’s MLK Day celebration will be online
By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com
The Mon Valley NAACP is bringing a modern twist to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
On Monday, the Mon Valley NAACP will hold an online remembrance of Dr. King on the online meeting network Zoom. It will feature speakers, music and readings from his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.
Members of the Mon Valley NAACP said the virtual remembrance is due to COVID-19 concerns, and it will break a 35-year tradition of celebrating the federal holiday in person at local churches throughout the area.
Mon Valley NAACP member Mary Lou Youngblood said the annual event usually attracts as many as 75 people, adding that she’s confident this year’s virtual event will be a similar success.
“Our national organization does not permit in-person meetings during the pandemic, so we’ve had to have our monthly meetings virtually since last year,” she said. “We’ve kind of gotten used to Zoom right now.
“So far, there’s been no push back from it being virtual. People are anxious to see each other. Some of us haven’t seen each others’ faces for quite a while.”
The program will include guest soloists Ryan McNeil and Monessen evangelist Linda King, a biographical presentation by Elder Jack Howell, dialogue based on the theme “Moving from King’s Dream to our Realities” and excerpts from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech presented by local youths.
Youngblood said she’s happy to see the younger generation embrace King and his ideals.
“There’s not as many as you’d think it would be,” Youngblood said. “With today’s situations, with so much racial unrest, a lot of families are now instilling his messages.”
Born in 1929, King spent the 1950s and 1960s as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist who fought for equality and justice for African Americans before he was assassinated at a motel in Memphis, Tenn. April 4, 1968.
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