Here's how to celebrate MLK Day in person or from home

Shannon Heupel, Montgomery Advertiser
·4 min read
Martin Luther King Jr. visits Maggie Street Baptist Church to rally support for the Poor People's Campaign.
Martin Luther King Jr. visits Maggie Street Baptist Church to rally support for the Poor People's Campaign.
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While many of the Montgomery area's Martin Luther King Jr. Day in-person events have been postponed due to ongoing virus conditions, there are still several ways to honor and reflect on King's legacy.

47th Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration

A Martin Luther King Jr. Day service at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021.
A Martin Luther King Jr. Day service at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021.

Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church will hold a birthday celebration on MLK Day, starting at 9 a.m. Keynote speaker is the Rev. Courtney D. Meadows of Hutchinson Missionary Baptist Church. Ice cream will be served after the celebration. Seating is limited. Masks and social distancing required. The church is at 454 Dexter Ave., Montgomery.

MLK Parade and Capitol Steps program

The MLK Day Parade will be held Monday in Montgomery, starting at 1 p.m. Floats, bands and walkers will make their way up Dexter Avenue. Following the parade, a program will be held on the Capitol steps.

According to mlkdaymgm.com, rescheduled dates for Montgomery's other MLK events will be announced soon.

Prattville MLK Parade

The MLK Day Parade in Prattville is Monday, with lineup beginning 8 a.m. at Mac Gray Park, 1050 Martin Luther King Drive. The parade begins at 9 a.m., and will continue to Stanley Jensen Stadium, 460 Doster Road.

Free admission to EJI facilities Monday

Equal Justice Initiative's Legacy Museum, 400 N. Court St., and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, 417 Caroline St., in Montgomery will be open on Monday for MLK day. Both the sites will offer free admission with no ticket required. 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., with last entry at 4 p.m. museumandmemorial.eji.org.

Tour SPLC's redesigned Civil Rights Memorial Center

Southern Poverty Law Center's Civil Rights Memorial Center reopened Thursday, with new exhibits and updates at 400 Washington Avenue in downtown Montgomery. In honor of MLK Day and Black History Month, admission is free January and February. Tickets are required, and are available online at splcenter.org.

Updates include a community poem exhibit, theater room modifications, new film "Apathy Is Not an Option," a motion-activated video overview of modern Civil Rights Movement, kiosks offering the story of the memorial, and an interactive table to learn about martyrs and key dates of the movement.

Normal hours are Wednesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. However, it will be open Monday for MLK Day from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Visitors are required to wear masks and have temperatures checked. The space will be limited to groups of 20 people.

View a video on nonviolence

The National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State University has a video on nonviolent resistance for social injustice and its 21st century relevancy. It features Dr. Robert White of ASU's Department of Languages and Literatures. It's available for viewing now at https://fb.watch/awfBHwwSmf/

MLK events from Selma

One in-person MLK event, a winter clothing giveaway, is happening Monday 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Edmundite Missions Bosco Nutrition Center, 1107B Griffin Ave. in downtown Selma.

Virtual MLK events have been announced by Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Selma and the Selma Center for Nonviolence, all of which are free and open to the public.

The Inaugural MLK Youth Day, with information about how youth can volunteer around the community, will happen all day Saturday (King's actual birthday) on Facebook @SCNTR and Instagram @SELMA_CNTR.

Tuesday at 2 p.m., the W.K. Kellogg Foundation with live stream the National Day of Racial Healing program. Soledad O'Brien will host this event. You can watch at https://healourcommunities.org/day-of-racial-healing/

Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., TRHT Selma will host an online event involving Selma High School history students and faculty joining filmmaker Rachel Boynton, director and producer of Civil War (Or Who Do We Think We Are). View the entire film free online at peacocktv.com. All are welcome to participate at the BBCF Facebook page and BBCF YouTube Channel, where you can watch in live streaming and join in the online chat for comments and questions.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel at sheupel@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Celebrate MLK Day in person, or from home