The Philadelphia Martin Luther King, Jr. Association for Nonviolence will host its annual event in celebration of the legacy and memory of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Dr. King’s birthday, which this year also falls on the date of the national holiday in his honor. This year, the King Association’s 41st annual awards and benefits luncheon will take place starting at 12 noon at the Sheraton Downtown Philadelphia Hotel at 201 N. 17th Street.
Had Dr. King lived until this year, he would have been 95 on January 15.
Joye Nottage, the Executive Director of the Philadelphia King Association, stated, “This year, I am pleased to share that our 2024 Drum Major Honorees are PA State Representative Joanna McClinton, the first African American woman Speaker of the House, and Mr. and Mrs. Esther and Daniel T. Sawyer, representing the Neighborhood Crusades, Inc.
Three individuals who work tirelessly with the Philadelphia King Association as volunteers will also be honored for their work. They are Melody Simmons, Rubin Johnson, and Allan Anderson. The world-renowned Pine Forge Academy Choir will perform, as will soloist Rachel Merrill.”
“We expect that this year’s celebration of Dr. King’s life, the work he labored to get done, and the sacrifices he made to become one of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, will be meaningful and another wake-up call for those of us who may have gotten lazy. The work is not over. There’s still much to be done to make sure that African Americans and other people of color have equal justice and fair treatment, equivalent to that which all other Americans receive. We are still not quite there yet.”
The Philadelphia Martin Luther King, Jr. Association for Nonviolence, Inc. is the first and only affiliate of the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, commissioned by Mrs. Coretta Scott King to operate and do some of the kinds of work that Dr. King did while he lived.
Prior to the luncheon event starting, the Philadelphia King Association will host its annual symbolic ringing of the Liberty Bell at 5th and Markets Street, inside the Liberty Bell Pavilion. President Ronald Reagan, on August 27, 1984, signed legislation providing for the formation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission. Former Governor of New Jersey, Thomas Kean, was named Vice-Chair of that Commission. On January 20, 1986, the first national King Holiday was observed. Mrs. King requested of Dr. C. Delores Tucker, the Founder of the Philadelphia King Association, that a bell-ringing ceremony be held in Philadelphia at Independence Hall to launch the celebration of the holiday. The Philadelphia Martin Luther King, Jr. Association for Nonviolence, Inc. became the sponsor of the ceremony and has carried on the tradition ever since.
Dr. King’s national holiday is now observed by the ringing of the Liberty Bell as a symbol of freedom and justice.
The Liberty Bell Ceremony is not open to the general public due to limited space inside the Liberty Bell Pavilion. People who want to see the ceremony are welcome to watch it online at the Philadelphia King Association Facebook page.
For more information about the various programs the Philadelphia King Association operates, log onto their website at www.philadelphiamlk.org or call 215-751-9300.
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