By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
The local Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration Committee has announced that the Junction City-Geary County 38th annual Commemoration & Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be Monday, January 16 at 10:00 AM at the C.L. Hoover Opera House.
The theme for the event is “Good Trouble; Why We Can’t Wait!” and will commemorate the 60th anniversary of Dr. King’s 1963 Letter from the Birmingham Jail. The letter speaks of civil disobedience a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take direct action rather than waiting potentially forever for justice to come through the courts. Responding to being referred to as an "outsider", King writes: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Junction City native and Academy-Award winner Kevin Willmott is slated as the keynote speaker with special performances by NBC ‘The Voice’ semi-finalist Justin Aaron and eleven year old Jerel D. McGeachy Jr. of Topeka reciting “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop!” along with a host of other guests. The coveted Coretta Scott King Courage (Humanitarian) Award will also be presented.
In partnership with Junction City Main Street, the Community March will route from W. Seventh to E. Ninth Street for a historic statue unveiling in which Willmott will preside.
The community is invited. The event is FREE of charge.