Ceremony, awards are part of MLK event
M’Jan Celie Tho-Biaz of Santa Fe, an activist, educator and oral historian, will deliver the keynote address at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday commemoration in the state Capitol Rotunda on Monday.
The event, sponsored by the Santa Fe Branch NAACP, New Mexico Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission and the Santa Fe Public Schools, comes on a day when many offices, schools and financial institutions will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Sponsors of the Capitol ceremony, scheduled from noon to 1 a.m., said in a news release that Tho-Biaz will speak about “how King’s voice, teachings and love shaped her life, and how it continues to impact how she works as an oral historian and educator dedicated to celebrating, elevating, honoring and co-creating a morally and socially just future.”
Tho-Biaz was honored in 2017 by The Santa Fe New Mexican as one of 10 Who Made a Difference.
The commemoration also will include a “Traditional African Call of the Drums,” the announcement said, and presentation of awards for community and social action to four Santa Fe High School students: Malaya Peixinho, Ashley Valdez, Jonathan Najman and Christina Cornish. The release said the high-schoolers are “performing exemplary service in the community, including working with underrepresented populations and with elementary students, working on blood drives, creating performances based on monologues written by Palestinian children, and participating in
protests at Standing Rock.”
Among the offices and institutions where hours of operation will be affected by observance of the holiday on Monday:
Most federal, state, city and county nonemergency government offices will be closed.
The Santa Fe Municipal Court, libraries and recreation centers will be closed.
Post offices will be closed, and regular mail delivery will be suspended.
Many banks and financial intuitions will be closed.
Santa Fe Public Schools, Santa Fe Community College and the Santa Fe Higher Education Center will be closed.
Santa Fe Trails buses, Santa Fe Pick-Up and Santa Fe Ride will observe a Sunday schedule, 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Rail Runner Express passenger trains will operate on a Sunday schedule.
North Central Regional Transit District “Blue Buses” will not be in service, but the 255 Mountain Trail route to Ski Santa Fe will operate on a normal weekday schedule.
New Mexico Park and Ride buses will not be in service.
City of Santa Fe curbside trash and recycling collection will follow the regular schedule.
State museums are closed on Mondays at this time of year.
Day-use fees at national forests and grasslands will be waived for many sites, Bandelier National Monument and other National Park Service areas will waive entrance fees, and the Bureau of Land Management will waive recreation-related fees for visitors to public lands on Monday.