And Justice for All hosts march, celebration to honor King

SIKESTON - Residents can take a closer look at the life of Dr. Martin Luther King during a celebration hosted by And Justice For All on Monday.

Kicking off the celebration will be a march followed by a program featuring guest speakers coach Lennies McFerren and blues performer Sam Mosley. This year's theme is "The Anatomy of Dr. King's Legacy."

Assembly for the march will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the New Life New Beginning Church, 508 E. Center St. The march will begin at 11 a.m. with the program to start at New Life New Beginning Church immediately following the march.

Sam Mosley

Sam Mosley

McFerren's teams have earned nine state championships over his coaching career, which began at Charleston High School following his 1975 graduation from Southeast Missouri State University. When he was hired at Charleston, he was the first black varsity basketball coach in southeast Missouri.

"I was trying to win for everybody-players and players who wanted to get into coaching," McFerren said.

Throughout his coaching career, McFerren said he has emphasized discipline with his young players but always sought to make the game fun.

At Charleston, McFerren won seven state championships (1980, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1992). He won two more at New Madrid County Central (2000 and 2001) and has come out of retirement twice to coach, most recently at Kennett High School.

Overall he has a 547-184 record in 24 seasons of coaching. The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inducted McFerren in 2016.

A song writer, singer and guitarist, Mosley has performed for 31 years. His band recorded several albums of blues and southern soul in the 1980s and 1990s for the Muscle Shoals Sounds and Malco labels.

His most lucrative niche, however, is as a songwriter. Mosley has written songs for many of the top blues artists including Johnny Taylor, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Tyrone Davis and XX Hills.

In addition to working as a performer and songwriter, Mosley also is a music producer.

Mosley was born in New Albany, Miss., where he still resides.