COLUMBUS, Ohio – Central Ohio communities mark the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday with speeches, films and music.
HOLIDAY CLOSINGS: Government offices, most schools, including Columbus City Schools. No classes at OSU or Columbus State. No mail delivery. No trash, recycling or yard waste pickup.
The 29th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Breakfast, billed as the largest such celebration in the U.S., will feature Yvette McGee Brown, the first African-American woman to serve as a Justice on the Ohio Supreme Court, as its keynote speaker. Gov. John Kasich will also speak during the event.
The breakfast begins at 7:00 a.m. at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
A march will be held on W. Broad Street Monday afternoon.
Ohio State students, faculty and staff will mark the occasion with a day of service, volunteering at work sites across central Ohio.
Central Ohio business leader Donna James is the featured speaker at Worthington’s community celebration. James is the founder and board chair of the Center for Healthy Families, and was named to serve as chairwoman of the National Women’s Business Council by President Obama in 2010.
The program, scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Worthington United Methodist Church, 600 High Street, also includes performances by the Capriccio Vocal Ensemble and Youth Choir and the St. John A.M.E. Church Praise Dance Ministry and a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Dublin’s community celebration is set for 11:00 a.m. at the Abbey Theater in the Dublin Recreation Center.
The celebration in Delaware will include three days of events, beginning Sunday with the 29th annual Delaware-area worship service at 3:00 p.m. at Zion AME Church, 140 S. Washington Street. The service will feature remarks from Pastor Kimberly Strain of Delaware’s Outreach Christian Center.
The observance, organized by Ohio Wesleyan University and the Delaware County Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee continues Monday morning at 7:45 a.m. with the 21st annual MLK Breakfast Celebration in the Benes Room of Ohio Wesleyan’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Avenue.
Bishop Gregory Vaughn Palmer, Episcopal leader of the Ohio West Area of the United Methodist Church, will deliver the keynote address.
The community’s observance includes a discussion around the Emmy Award-winning documentary “Freedom Riders,” which tells the stories of more than 400 civil rights activists who endured threats, jail time, and physical violence while riding interstate buses through the Deep South for six months in 1961 to protest segregation. The discussion will follow the screening of clips from the film at 7:00 p.m. Monday in the Bayley Room on the second floor of Beeghly Library, 43 Rowland Avenue.
The week’s activities conclude Thursday evening with a free screening and discussion of the documentary “White Like Me: Race, Racism & White Privilege in America.” The screening, sponsored by the OWU President’s Commission on Racial and Cultural Diversity, will be held at 7:00 p.m. in Benes Room B inside the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Avenue. It will be followed by a discussion facilitated by Paul Dean, Ph.D., Ohio Wesleyan assistant professor of sociology and anthropology.