Although most of the local celebration of slain Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went virtual in 2021, there were two in-person events held on Monday. The spirit of service championed by King was present at both of the events, which included a drive-thru lunch at the Rome Civic Center hosted by the MLK Commission of Rome and Northwest Georgia and an MLK Service Day Cleanup hosted by Keep Rome-Floyd Beautiful under the Turner McCall Boulevard bridge.
Alvin Jackson, Vice Chair of the MLK Commission of Rome and Northwest Georgia, asserts that he takes King’s message that ‘hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that’ to heart.
The Freedom March, which is normally the centerpiece of the Commission’s annual MLK Weekend Celebration, did not take place in downtown Rome in 2021 due to coronavirus concerns.