Community gears up to remember Martin Luther King

Events will include exhibits, music events, encouraging acts of kindness and more

TEXARKANA, Ark. — A number of local organizations are preparing for events to honor the late civil rights activist and minister Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Treva West and Dr. Teretha Harper are members of Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council’s African American Committee. They said the council has been preparing for several months for MLK events.

“When we do his celebration, it’s just a little bit before Black History Month, and so it’s a great lead-in — and it sets the stage for the celebration of African American people,” West said.

Harper said the exhibits center around King’s connection to the arts by using the work of African American artists such as Ruby and Ossie Davis, Sammy Davis Jr. and Harry Belafonte.

“Some of these songs shaped the civil rights movement, and some of them are used in almost every program, such as ‘We Shall Overcome’, ‘Lift Every Voice And Sing’ and others,” Harper said. “The message is going to center around how the arts supported Dr. King and the civil rights movement.”

West and Harper said the programs will be accessible to all visitors, whether or not they are familiar with the civil rights movement.

“We extend a pledge out to everyone to be able to do acts of kindness,” West said. “We’ve asked everyone to fill out a card and take that with them, and hopefully they will present some act of kindness to another person.”

The lineup of MLK events in the area include —

• “A Degree of Separation” by Jamin Carter, at TRAHC thorugh Jan. 20.

• 22nd annual African American Voice: An Evening of Performance with Special Moments for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Rev. Henry Dickens — 6 p.m. Jan. 12 at TRAHC

• first Praise Dance by the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade Committee — 4:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at Mount

Pisgah Baptist Church

• 20th annual MLK Gala by Ozan-ingraham Iron Mountain Neighborhood Development Corp. — 7 p.m. Jan. 14 at Texarkana College’s Truman Arnold Center

• eighth annual MLK Jr. Day Parade by Bridging the Gaps of Arkansas — 11:30 a.m. Jan. 15 in downtown Texarkana

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Program by Texarkana NAACP — 1 p.m. Jan 15 at Dunbar Elementary School

• 23rd annual Regional Celebration of African American Artists Exhibit by TRAHC’S African American Committee — Jan. 30-March 16 at TRAHC

• the African-american Committee’s quilting workshops at Texarkana Recreation Center — 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Thursday

(Gazette file photo) Minister Sonya Collins with the St. James Missionary Baptist Church speaks to the crowd during the MLK Day Parade on Jan. 16, 2023, in downtown Texarkana, Ark. Collins and Dr. Brian Matthews, left, an associate professor of management at Texas A&M University-texarkana, were the mistress and master of ceremonies for the seventh annual parade sponsored by Bridging the Gaps of Arkansas. The eighth annual parade is Monday, Jan. 15.