Local MLK activities are aimed to unite community

SIKESTON -- Sikeston residents plan to celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his service to bridge barriers, empower others and strengthen communities in a nonviolent manner through a weekend of activities.

"Looking Through the Eyes of a Dreamer" is the theme to this year's King Day Birthday Celebration and Motorcade Parade in Sikeston.

Michael Harris, Sikeston King Day Planning Committee co-chair, encouraged the community to support the local King activities, which run Saturday through Monday.

"This is a time for us to reflect and think about a lot of the good things that Dr. King stood for -- unity in our community -- and working together," Harris said.

And King's 50-year message resonates today and to all, Harris said.

Legislation was signed in 1983 creating a federal holiday marking the birthday King. In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading this effort.

Taking place each year on the third Monday in January, the MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service.

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