MLK Day events across Dayton and the Miami Valley

The Miami Valley will celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in events over the next several days, including the following programs.

>> Looking back at Martin Luther King Jr.’s visits to Dayton

CENTERVILLE

Diversity Council’s 20th Annual MLK Breakfast

The Centerville-Washington Diversity Council will host the 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast on Monday, Jan. 20, featuring Elfred Anthony Pinkard, president of Wilberforce University, as the keynote speaker.

The breakfast takes place at 7:30 a.m. at the Golf Club at Yankee Trace, 10000 Yankee St. Register online here. Tickets are $20 each, or $200 for a table of 10.

Dr. Pinkard will also present “King’s Beloved Community Reimagined” at 1 p.m.  Monday, Jan. 20, at the Faith Community Performing Arts Center on the St. Leonard campus, 8100 Clyo Road. There is no charge to attend.

Pinkard previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Johnson C. Smith University, and was founding executive director of the United Negro College Fund Institute for Capacity Building, which assists 37 member institutions. He has held administrative positions at 10 institutes of higher learning, including seven historically black colleges or universities.

DAYTON

Martin Luther King Unity Sunday

The Kroc Center will host a worship service and lunch in honor of Martin Luther King Day on Sunday, Jan. 20.

The worship service will begin at 10:45 a.m. and lunch will be served at 1 p.m. This program will feature guest speaker Major Marion Platt.

This service is at 1000 N. Keowee St. (on the corner of Webster and Keowee streets). This event is free and open to the public.

For more information and to R.S.V.P for the 1 p.m. luncheon, contact Kip Moore at  kip.moore@use.salvationarmy.org.

For more information on the Salvation Army Kroc Center-Dayton, visit the website at www.dayton.salarmykroc.org.

>> PHOTOS: MLK visits to the Dayton region

MLK Dayton Inc.

MLK Dayton Inc. has several events scheduled this year. This year’s theme is “Forgiveness.”

This year’s events include:

• Friday, Jan. 17, 7:30 a.m. — MLK Dayton Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at Grace United Methodist Church, 1001 Harvard Blvd. $37.50 per person. Tickets for the Interfaith Breakfast and Celebration Banquet are available here.

• Sunday, Jan. 19, 5 p.m. — MLK Dayton Gospel Musical at Shiloh Baptist Church, 3801 Fairbanks Ave.

• Monday, Jan. 20, 10 a.m. — MLK Dayton Memorial March and Rally, begins at Charles R. Drew Health Center, 1323 W. Third St. and ends at the Dayton Convention Center. (An alternate route will be taken due to the Third Street bridge project).

• Monday, Jan. 20, 11 a.m. — MLK Dayton Teen Day at The Neon Movies, 130 E. Fifth St., 11 a.m. Teens will watch first half of “Harriet,” break for lunch, and then watch the second half. A discussion will follow. The event is free.

• Monday, Jan. 20, 6 p.m. — MLK Dayton Celebration Banquet at the Dayton Convention Center. Speaker is Elder Spiver W. Gordon and cost is $75 per person.

For more information: Website.

RTA

The Miami Valley community is invited to ride for free on all RTA buses and RTA Connect paratransit services all day on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 20. RTA buses will operate on a Saturday service schedule in observance of the holiday, except for The Flyer, which will run regular weekday service.

The RTA is a sponsor of the MLK Dayton events and will provide free shuttle service between the Dayton Convention Center and the Dr. Charles R. Drew Health Center at 1323 W. Third Street for anyone participating in the Dayton MLK Memorial March and Rally. The event starts at 10 a.m., with the march beginning at the Charles R. Drew Health Center. At the end of the march and rally, RTA will run shuttle service from approximately 10:50 a.m.- 2:40 p.m.

Due to the march, there will be rolling roadblocks throughout downtown Dayton. There will be intermittent service delays and reroutes on Routes 1, 2, 4, 8, 19, and The Flyer, as the march progresses between approximately 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. There will also be temporary closures of some stops when the march is on Main Street and Fifth Street. A temporary stop for The Flyer will be placed at St. Clair Street and Fifth Street to accommodate the Transportation Garage.

>>IMAGES: Newspaper pages tell the story of 1968 MLK assassination

Credit: Jim Witmer

Credit: Jim Witmer

Sinclair’s Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast and Commemorative Walk

Join with Sinclair Community College students, colleagues and their families for this annual event that commemorates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Breakfast begins at 9:30 a.m.

This event is on Monday, Jan. 20, in Building 12, Great Hall. Entertainment by World House Choir will begin at 9:30 a.m. The program starts at 9:45 a.m. The walk begins at 10:30 a.m. Times are approximate. Please dress appropriately.

Registration is requested; visit here.

University of Dayton

The University of Dayton has a variety of commemorations planned.

● Wreath laying ceremony at University of Dayton monument to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 16. The monument is located across from the Frericks Center. Open to the public.
● The university's monthly prayer service for peace and people impacted by discrimination and violence — Prayers of the Heart — at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, at the University of Dayton Peace Pole in the courtyard between the Immaculate Conception Chapel and St. Mary's Hall. Open to the public.
● Faculty, staff and students will participate in Dayton's Martin Luther King Day march at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20. 
● Table of Plenty lunch discussion for UD faculty staff and students on social justice topics related to the impact and legacy of King at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, in Torch Lounge. Sponsored by the Center for Social Concern and the Multi-Ethnic Education and Engagement Center.
● Faculty, students and staff will participate in a day of service in the Dayton community — the MLK Social Justice Plunge throughout Dayton from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25.
● Movie nights and discussions — Monsters and Men (6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, Roesch Library Collaboration Space) and "Beyond Civil Rights: King's Vision of the Strength in Solidarity" (3:30-5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, Roesch Library Dialogue Zone). Open to UD faculty, staff and students. Monsters and Men addresses the aftermath of a police killing of a black man told through the eyes of a bystander who filmed the killing, an African American police officer and a high school baseball phenom inspired to take a stand for social justice. "Beyond Civil Rights: King's Vision of the Strength in Solidarity" is an opportunity for UD faculty, staff and students to discuss how to build community through recognition of King's vision of the strength in solidarity.
SPRINGFIELD

City of Springfield

Clark State and the city of Springfield will host the 30th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17. It will be at Clark State’s Hollenbeck Bayley Creative Arts & Conference Center.

Stephen Francis, president and lead strategist of Franchise D&I Solutions, LLC, will provide the keynote address. The luncheon’s theme, “Living the Dream,” has the sub-theme of ‘What would King do?”

Wittenberg Series-Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation

The Wittenberg University Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation will feature

Freeman A. Hrabowski III, educator, advocate, mathematician, and president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

This event will be held on Monday, Jan. 20, at Wittenberg University. Convocation begins at 11:15 a.m. in Weaver Chapel; at 2:45 p.m. there will be a Q&A session with Hrabowski in Room 105 of the Joseph C. Shouvlin Center for Lifelong Learning on campus. Both events are free and open to the public.

For more information, visit here.

TROTWOOD

The city of Trotwood will hold “Dream, Believe, Do,” a Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., Monday, Jan. 20 from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Cultural Arts Center, 4000 Lake Center Drive.

TROY

Library event

In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Troy-Miami County Public Library will show the PBS documentary “John Lewis: Get in the Way,” followed by a short discussion.

The program will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20. No registration is required.

John Lewis, a King colleague, helped organized the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. After playing a key role in the civil rights movement, Lewis was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

For more information, contact the library at 937-339-0502, ext. 117, or visit www.tmcpl.org.

YELLOW SPRINGS

The annual MLK March begins at 10 a.m. starting near the Subway restaurant on Xenia Avenue, and it will go through the middle of town and end up at the John Bryan Community Center on Dayton Street for a program. There is also a program at 9 a.m. at the Coretta Scott King Center, located on the campus of Antioch College prior to the march. All of the events are taking place on Jan. 20.

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