Blount County MLK Celebration Planning Committee kicks off weekend of events honoring Dr. King on Friday, Jan. 12
Jan. 10, 2024
Blount Countians are invited to celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., with three observances planned for the 2024 MLK Day holiday and preceding weekend.
Members of the Blount County MLK Celebration Planning Committee recently announced information about events set for Jan. 12-15, including plans for a new event format for the Monday community celebration.
“The theme for this year’s celebration is service, leaning into Dr. King’s quote ‘Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve,’” said Adriel McCord, co-chair of the Blount County MLK Celebration Planning Committee. “In planning this year’s events, we wanted to inspire people to not just learn more about Dr. King or think about his messages of love and peace, but to get out and do the things that better our communities.”
The Rev. Dr. Charles Lomax, Jr., president and CEO of the Knoxville Area Urban League, will be the keynote speaker at the annual MLK Day Business Luncheon, scheduled for noon, Jan. 12, at the Airport Hilton. (This ticketed event is sold out.)
Elder Joel Walker, pastor of Alcoa’s New Vision Ministries Church of God in Christ, will lead the community worship service at New Providence Presbyterian Church in Maryville at 4 p.m., Jan. 14. Special music will be provided by The Overflow.
The holiday observances on Jan. 15 will begin with the annual MLK Day March, led by Grand Marshal Tanya Martin, mayor of the City of Alcoa. Marchers will assemble for it at 12:45 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Community Center in Alcoa and walk to the Maryville College campus for the afternoon celebration, which will begin at 2 p.m. in the William Baxter Lee III Grand Foyer of the Clayton Center for the Arts on the Maryville College campus. There, attendees will see and hear selections prepared by the Alcoa Singers and students in the William Blount High School Theatre program. Winners of the Anthony Dunnings Community Service Award and MLK Scholarship will be announced. A fair of local non-profit organizations will run concurrently in the foyer.
“Inviting non-profits to be a part of our event, where they can recruit volunteers and supporters for causes that help build the Beloved Community, seemed like a very beneficial and tangible way to honor Dr. King’s legacy,” said Belinda Kenny, co-chair of the Blount County MLK Celebration Planning Committee. “We have eight non-profits that plan to participate, and we are confident that in the broad array of services and purposes represented, each attendee will find at least one organization that they can plug into.”
Both the worship service and community celebration are free and open to the public.
For more information on the events, visit facebook.com/mlkblount.
Lomax will headline business luncheon
Lomax, senior pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Alcoa, was named president and CEO of the Knoxville Area Urban League in December 2022. In that capacity, he leads the organization’s aim of “Empowering Communities. Changing Lives” through initiatives in education, entrepreneurship, health, housing, jobs and justice.
A strong proponent of education, Lomax holds a doctor of ministry degree from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, a master of divinity degree from the Morehouse School of Religion at Interdenominational Theological Center and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
He is active in the community, serving on the boards of the American Heart Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Blount Mansion, the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Knoxville. He past service includes work as director of Community Empowerment for the city of Knoxville and with the Knoxville Leadership Foundation and the Knox County Election Commission. He previously served on the Knoxville/Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission.
Walker, The Overflow to lead Sunday worship
Walker, a Knoxville native and Fulton High School graduate, received the call to the ministry at the age of 12 and preached his trial sermon at the age of 18 at First A.M.E. Zion Church in Knoxville. He attended Livingston College and later enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Receiving his elder’s license from the A.M.E. Zion Church in 1989, he served several churches in the area before joining the Church of God in Christ. He currently pastors New Vision Ministries Church of God in Christ.
Leading the music for the worship service will be The Overflow, a seven-member contemporary Gospel and Christian music group whose mission is “to create an atmosphere of passionate worship that is completely accessible with the singular goal of glorifying God.” Based in Knoxville, the group of young adult musicians recently released a new album titled “Manna,” which is available on all digital platforms. It is their third album.
