The celebration honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. begins with the Freedom March at 1, starting and ending at the Central Bank Center. At 2, a commemorative program will be held featuring the Reverend Devon Jerome Crawford as keynote speaker.
The event also features a photography exhibition celebrating the work of Moneta Sleet Jr, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist from Owensboro who documented King and the civil rights movement. The theme of this year's program is "The Right to Live, The Right to Choose: Health, Ballots, and the Beloved Community."
Martina Barksdale is the Director of Communications at VisitLEX, one of this year's sponsors. She says events like the MLK celebration help showcase Lexington's full story to visitors and locals alike.
"I host writers and journalists here in the city and try to curate their itinerary so they can discover the hidden gems and the untold stories," said Barksdale. "I hate that we refer to them as untold stories, but somebody has to tell them."
Lexington's celebration is one of the nation's longest-running commemorations of Dr. King's life and legacy. It was founded only five years after King's assassination and over a decade before the holiday was federally recognized.
"It really speaks to the vision of the city to have the foresight to celebrate this before it was even a federal holiday," said Barksdale. "We are part of not only why Lexington was built, but why America, going into its 250th year was built. That we're able to use our platform and resources to amplify that and bring the community together from all walks of life is truly, truly something special."