Queens honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks from the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. National Archives
By David Brand
Today, Queens honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the iconic Civil Rights leader who transformed the United States by forcing the country to confront centuries of institutional racism, brutality, murder, theft and daily inequities against Black and African Americans.
King, who would have turned 92 on Jan. 15, also championed the rights of the poor and other marginalized people in the U.S. and around the world before his murder in 1968.
His legacy lives on in today’s Movement for Black Lives, for immigrants’ rights, for LGBTQ rights, for tenants’ rights and for the rights of the homeless and the poor.
Here are a few ways to honor Dr. King in Queens today:
The organization Interfaith Justice Queens will hold a food drive with live music, poetry and an open mic for community members to discuss King’s legacy and modern social justice movements today at 2 p.m. at Court Square.
Find out more information here.
State Sens. Leroy Comrie and James Sanders Jr., Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman and Councilmember I. Daneek Miller host a winter coat giveaway at the America Legion Post 483, located 240-8 135th Ave. in Rosedale starting at 10 a.m.
At 1 p.m., Miller will host a virtual performing arts celebration, with speeches from new U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
Check out Queens College’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, a virtual program featuring QC President Dr. Frank Wu, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, QC Student Association President Zaire Coulote and Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson, a recent QC alum.
The event honors King, as well as Civil Rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, a QC alum. The three men were murdered by Ku Klux Klan members after investigating the burning of an African American church in Mississippi in 1964.
Watch the program here:
