MLK Jr. event today in Ashland

The Daily Independent, Ashland, Ky.
·2 min read

Jan. 15—ASHLAND — Education in an entertaining format will be featured at today's MLK Jr. Day 2024 Celebration in the form of The Heritage.

The Heritage is a small group of local actors who will bring icons of the Civil Rights movement to life by portraying them in skits. They are:

—Faith Fountain will portray Sarah Collins, a social justice speaker and activist who survived a church bombing when she was a child.

—Leah Branch will portray Madam C.J. Walker, known for starting as a slave to become a business owner — Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp conditioning and healing formula, which she claimed had been revealed to her in a dream.

—Ma-Laya Neloms will portray Ruby Bridges, who at 6 became an icon for civil rights when she began attending William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.

—Rebecca Revely will portray Viola Gregg Liuzzo, a white woman who traveled to Alabama to help the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by King. Shortly thereafter, she was murdered by Ku Klux Klan members for driving a Black man from Montgomery to Selma.

—Norm Branch will portray Medgar Evers, a distinguished World War II veteran who was a pioneer civil rights activist. He was key to investigating the Emmitt Till murder case and brought the opportunity to register to vote to many in the south.

—Angela Linthicum will portray Queen of Gospel singer Mahailia Jackson; she sand at the 1963 March on Washington at the request of King.

—Kristin Martin, who portrays Harriet Tubman, is part of the group but will not be able to perform on Monday.

The celebration will be at 10:30 a.m. today at the Ashland Transportation Center at 99 15th St. in Ashland.

Ashland Mayor Matt Perkins will welcome the community to the event and presentations from United Way CEO-NAACP Member Marshall Tyson and Vice-President/NAACP Bernice Henry will speak and present the Carol Jackson Diversity Award to Ohio University Southern.

A "Freedom March" from the transportation building to the First Presbyterian Church will conclude the day.

Sponsors include Ashland Community and Technical College, Boyd and Greenup Counties Branch of the NAACP, Walmart, City of Ashland, Ashland Independent Schools, Ohio University Southern, First Presbyterian Church, Fields Flowers and United Way.

The Heritage also will present its skits on Feb. 17 at the Masonic Lodge 2 in Ironton and Feb. 10 at the Gallia County Historical Society in Gallipolis.