Memorial breakfast, unity march highlight Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Springfield
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Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in the Springfield area feature the annual Springfield Frontiers International Club Memorial Breakfast and a unity march and discussion.
Local actor Reggie Guyton will recite King's "I Have a Dream" speech at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
Here is a rundown of Monday's events:
MLK Memorial Breakfast
Dr. Wendi Wills El-Amin, the associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, will be the keynote speaker at the King Day Breakfast at the Wyndham City Centre, 700 E. Adams St. It starts at 8:30 a.m.
Tickets are $35 and may be purchased from Frontiers Club members.
El-Amin is also on faculty at SIU Medicine in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and provides care at the Center for Family Medicine in Springfield. She is dually appointed to the SIU’s Department of Medical Education.
The Frontiers Club will use a portion of the breakfast proceeds along with the proceeds from its annual golf outing to generate financial support for the Positive Youth Development Programfor sixth, seventh and eighth graders and the Junior Frontiers for high schoolers.
The funds are also used to help with Frontiers Club scholarships named for two deceased members of the organization, J.D. Washington and James Forstall.
The breakfast dates back to 1976.
Unity march
The Springfield NAACP unity march steps off from Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church, 1800 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, at noon Monday.
It proceeds to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, 908 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, where a community roundtable discussion will be led by University of Illinois Springfield students.
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In Jacksonville, a motorcade will make its way from Mt. Emory Baptist Church, 426 S. Church St., to Jacksonville Community beginning at 10 a.m. Monday.
There will be a program there at 11 a.m.
On Jan. 20, UIS students will participate in an MLK service project at the UIS Student Union Ballroom.
Students will be making no-sew fleece blankets that will be given to children in area hospitals during an event called “Fleece & Thank You.”
Students will record video messages for children receiving each blanket. The video travels through a QR code patch on each blanket and children have the option of sending a video message back.
ALPLM presentation
Guyton will recite the “I Have a Dream” speech in the museum’s plaza at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
King originally delivered the speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom before a crowd estimated at 250,000 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. He praised Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation as “a great beacon of hope” but said Blacks were still chained by segregation and discrimination.
In addition to appearing in the “Ghosts of the Library” show, Guyton does promotional and exhibit voiceover work at the ALPLM. He developed a living history theatrical character piece about Robert Smalls, a formerly enslaved person who freed himself and became a U.S. Representative.
Guyton has been a staple in Muni, Springfield Theatre Centre and Hoogland Center For the Arts productions.
Regular admission is required and the ALPLM is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday.
Also on Monday, the ALPLM will conduct its community blood drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The ImpactLife Blood Mobile will be parked in front of the museum entrance.
ImpactLife is the sole supplier of blood to Springfield Memorial Hospital, HSHS St. John’s Hospital and other local hospitals.
King Day hoops
The new Lober-Nika Gymnasium at Lanphier High School will host several girls and boys basketball games on Monday.
The action gets underway at 11 a.m. with a girls game pitting Southeast against Lanphier.
In boys action, Springfield High plays Metro Lutheran at 12:30 p.m. followed by Southeast vs. North Chicago at 2 p.m. and Lanphier vs. Chicago Hyde Park at 3:30 p.m.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Events in Springfield commemorate Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
