Celebrations planned for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 | 6:20 p.m. CST; updated 8:41 p.m. CST, Tuesday, January 10, 2012

BY Dalrae Jin

Several events are scheduled to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Columbia.

Columbia Values Diversity Celebration — "One Community, Many Stories"

The 19th annual event will be held from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Holiday Inn Select Expo Center, 2200 Interstate 70 Drive S.W.
The recipient of the 15th annual Columbia Values Diversity Awards will be announced, and a multimedia program — including video of interviews, dialogue and musical performance directed by Dan Schultz of Stephens College — will be presented.
Tickets, which were sold through Jan. 6, are required.
The celebration will be rebroadcast on a few local channels (Mediacom Channel 80, Charter Communications Channel 2 and CenturyLink 601) on Jan. 15 through Jan. 16 and Jan. 20 through Jan. 22 at 6 a.m., 10 a.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.; and Jan. 17 through Jan. 19 at 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Poor People's Breakfast

The annual breakfast will be held from 7:30 a.m. to noon Monday at St. Luke United Methodist Church, 204 E. Ash St.
The event is free, but donations are welcome.
For more information or to make contributions, contact Almeta Crayton at 825-5263.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial — "Reaffirming a Legacy of Hope"

The Columbia NAACP will host the annual event at 11 a.m. Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, 800 W. Stadium Blvd.
After a brief ceremony, a motorcade from the memorial to Second Baptist Church will be held. The motorcade will depart at 11:15 a.m.; participating vehicles are asked to be on site by 11 a.m.
A celebration will follow at Second Baptist Church, 407 E. Broadway, where parking and seating will be available for participants.
A free lunch will be served after the celebration.
Community service awards will be announced.
For more information, contact Mary Ratliff at 445-3231 or by email at marrat300@aol.com.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Candlelight Walk and Celebration

Participants will gather by 6 p.m. at the Douglass High School gym, 310 N. Providence Road. The walk, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will conclude at St. Paul AME Church, 501 Park Ave. A service will be held there at 7 p.m.
The event will include community diversity awards.
For more information, contact Bill Thompson at 874-6379.

MU Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture

The MU Chancellor's Diversity Initiative will host a reception and presentation at 6 p.m. Jan. 25 at Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts, 203 S. Ninth St.
Larry Wilmore, comedian, writer and producer, will present "Share the Dream, Live the Reality" at 7 p.m.
This event is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative at 882-5838 or diversity@missouri.edu. More information is also available online.

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