The weekend celebration of slain Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will culminate today with a free drive-thru lunch at the Rome Civic Center from 11 am to 1 pm (or until all lunches are given out). The Freedom March, which is normally the centerpiece of the local MLK celebration hosted by the MLK Commission of Rome and Northwest Georgia, will not take place in ’21 due to coronavirus concerns.
Alvin Jackson, event promoter, states that it would be impossible to maintain safe social distancing at the Freedom March, which normally draws hundreds of attendees. The noon program at the Rome City Auditorium was also called off for this year.
Jackson asserts that it is important to keep Dr. King’s legacy of love alive for future generations.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta and was assassinated on April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.
MLK Day has been observed as a federal holiday in the United States on the third Monday of January each year since 1986.