Events honor memory of Martin Luther King Jr.

“MLK50 Forward: Together We Win for Humanity” is the theme for the Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration that will include several events.

Festivities will kick off with a celebration Jan. 11 at the Bentonville Community Center.

St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville will hold the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service at 3 p.m. Jan. 14.

Events on Jan. 15 will begin when the MLK Dream Keepers Community Service Program gathers for a youth prayer breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Janelle Y. Hembree House at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, to be followed at 9:30 a.m. by activities at the university’s HPER building. The breakfast and activities are sponsored by the council, UA Intramural Sports and Intercollegiate Athletics.

The MLK Freedom March will begin at 11:30 a.m. from Lot 56 at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Razorback Road. The University of Arkansas Union will be the inclement weather location.

A Noon-Day Vigil sponsored by UA Associated Student Government & Black Students Association will be held in the Union.

The Recommitment Banquet at 7 p.m. at the Fayetteville Town Center will feature keynote speaker Rev. R. Janae Pitts-Murdock, connections pastor at First Christian Church in Rogers. Tickets are $30 for adults or $20 for students.

The banquet will include presentation of Salute to Greatness Awards to:

Redell Thompson — Lifetime Achievement Award

Ornette Gaines — Ernestine White-Gibson Individual Achievement Award

Joseph “Joey” Daniels III —

Rodney Momon Youth/Young Adult Award

Betty Davis — The Rev. J.A.

Hawkins Posthumous Award

Northwest Arkansas Community Clinic — Non-Profit/Corporation

of the Year Award

File Photo/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Marchers participate in 2017’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom March to the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Activities for the 2018 celebration will begin Jan. 11.