Town plans big MLK Day

As the first city to designate a paid holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Chapel Hill has always celebrated the civil rights activist.

And with fallout from the debate over renaming Airport Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard still lingering, this year will be no exception.

“We feel (the debate) is going to be a tremendous boost,” said Bishop L. Gene Hatley of Barbee’s Chapel Baptist Church. “I think our participation will be greater. The inspiration and motivation are much greater now that something has been done locally.”

Honoring a national civil rights leader locally is the first step in honoring local activists, he said.

Fred Battle, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he hopes the entire celebration will be magnified because of the renaming discussion.

“I think people will come together on that day and celebrate the legacy of King,” Battle said.

Mayor Pro Tem Edith Wiggins said the holiday will have particular meaning for the NAACP because it was the group’s petition that initiated the renaming debate.

In honor of King, the NAACP is organizing a rally at 9:30 a.m. Monday in front of the Franklin Street post office. The rally will be followed by a march down Franklin Street at 10:15 a.m.

The march will end at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. service. The keynote speaker at the event is the Rev. William J. Barber II.

“He’s been leading the fight for equality in education in the Goldsboro education district,” Hatley said. “He’s very active in civil rights struggles.”

Barber served as the executive director of the N.C. Human Relations Commission for many years and formed a community development corporation in Goldsboro that, among other things, works to revitalize the inner city.

Hatley will also speak at the service, and numerous choirs from local churches will attend. But Monday is not the only day a resident of Chapel Hill can celebrate King.

“The weekend will be filled with programs geared toward Martin Luther King’s celebration,” Battle said.

The town will host its 7th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day at 11:30 a.m. today in town facilities at 1099 Airport Road. Newly elected County Commissioner Valerie Foushee will speak at the event.

A Martin Luther King Jr. community memorial commemoration will take place at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Duke Chapel.

And the University will host its annual University-Community Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Friday Center.

“It’s always a large festivity where University people and people from the town come together,” Battle said.

Howard Lee, chairman of the N.C. Board of Education and former Chapel Hill mayor, will be speaking at the banquet.

Wiggins said she plans to attend Sunday’s banquet. “I think the majority of citizens in Chapel Hill believe that (King) was an extraordinary leader, that he gave leaders to a national movement that raised the conscience of America,” she said. “Even young people who were not born yet understand the magnitude of his life.”

Some might even remember that King has local ties.

King visited the University’s Hill Hall, as well as the black community center, now called the Hargraves Community Center, in May of 1960 as part of his tour of Southern college campuses.

Chapel Hill has been celebrating King as an advocate for integration and breaking down the walls of segregation for about 30 years, Battle said.

“(Martin Luther King Day) means a celebration … of contributions of one of the greatest Americans ever,” Hatley said.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.