Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.: Here's where you can pay tribute on the Space Coast

Six decades after Martin Luther King Jr. and others focused on Florida to advocate for the dismantling of segregation, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning minister is being honored with gatherings around Brevard.

From a food drive to marches and somber reflections in church, Space Coast residents marking the King holiday weekend planned a number of ways to celebrate the civil rights leader’s legacy and impact on the American landscape.

Cocoa ministers will lead a Martin Luther King Jr. Peace March as a tribute to King's stance on non-violence at 2 p.m. today. It starts at Provost Park on Varr Avenue, proceeds north and winds its way back to Riverfront Park. Residents are also invited to participate in the MLK National Day of Service by donating canned goods to supply organizations that feed those in need.

Several congregations and community leaders planned a Sunday night gathering to usher in the holiday observance with a tribute to the Atlanta native, who was assassinated in 1968 at age 39.

That event was sponsored by the Central Brevard Ministerial Coalition at the historic Greater St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Cocoa, where Brevard youths and others were recruited to join King’s landmark 1964 marches in St. Augustine months before President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law.

King made a storied, but stealth, stop that year in Cocoa, one that included a clandestine meeting with Pastor W.O. Wells. longtime leader of the Greater St. Paul congregation.

It started with a phone call to Wells, a civil rights leader in his own right. An original Freedom Rider and president of Brevard’s NAACP, Wells recognized the rich, baritone voice on the other end. It was King.

And although the dates and times faded with memory, Wells, who died in 2015 at 84, recalled that the controversial civil rights leader was traveling through Florida that year. In this instance, King wanted to have a quiet, non-publicized visit to the coast to meet with protesters.

“It was one of the highlights of my experience,” Wells once told FLORIDA TODAY of the overnight stay.

More: Five fascinating connections Martin Luther King Jr. had to Florida and the Space Coast

Atlanta native Marcus Smith, a longtime community advocate and Melbourne resident, has in years past organized workshops on King’s writings on social and economic justice.

“As someone who grew up in Atlanta, you want people to think about Dr. King as more than a philosopher or someone who marched but more of a strategic thinker,” he said.

“It was more than speeches and marches. And while the thoughts he shared may be different now, we still need thinkers like him. I’m definitely going to be at some of these events. We need to come together."

President Ronald Reagan signed the King holiday into law in November 1983 after lobbying efforts from civil rights leaders, musical activists like Stevie Wonder and others. The first federal King holiday was celebrated in 1986, with King’s family and closest surviving aides calling for it to become a day of service.

Today, parades, barbecues and, community service and other gatherings honoring the slain civil rights leader are held across the nation. On Tuesday, a day after the observance, interfaith leaders will also gather to hold a discussion on racial healing at the Central Brevard Library Meeting Room in Cocoa. The event is being hosted by the Harry T and Harriette V. Moore Cultural Complex Board of Directors and the north branch of the Brevard NAACP.

Along with the commemorations in Brevard, musical celebrations were set to ring out during the three-day holiday, including a Southern Soul R&B By the River ticketed event at Riverfront Park.

Today's events:

The Play Melbourne Parks & Recreation department will host the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration at Grant Street Recreation Center, 2547 Grant St., Melbourne. The event begins at 1 p.m. and features entertainment and other activities. Information: 321-608-7460.

The Historic American Legion Post 191 in Melbourne will host a daylong celebration honoring King from 11 a.m. through midnight. The Post is located at 2422 Harbor City Blvd. Information: 321-872-7373.

The Central Brevard Ministerial Coalition's Peace March begins at 2 p.m. at Provost Park on Varr Avenue. It proceeds north to State Road 520 to Riverside Boulevard and Harrison Street, where the march will end at Riverfront Amphitheater.

The Brevard FAMU NAA-Space Coast Rattlers Food Drive will gather canned goods and other nonperishable food as part of the MLK National Day of Service. The food items can be dropped off just after the Peace March at Cocoa Riverfront Park. Information: 407-497-5906.

J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: MLK Day: Here's how you can honor the civil rights icon in Brevard