‘Just Mercy’ Author & Attorney Bryan Stevenson To Deliver the Keynote Address at the 2023 Martin Luther King, Jr. Beloved Community Commemorative Service Tomorrow, Jan. 16…

President Biden Delivered Sunday Sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church TODAY!

Hello World,

The King Center will host the 2023 Martin Luther King, Jr. Beloved Community Commemorative Service tomorrow, Jan. 16, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, at 10 a.m., at Ebenezer’s Horizon Sanctuary, 101 Auburn Ave., Atlanta. The service will broadcast live on FOX 5 Atlanta and livestream on Facebook, YouTube, fox4atlanta.com, and thekingcenter.org.

The 54th Annual Commemorative Service is the hallmark of the King Holiday Observance.  The Rev. Natosha Reid Rice and Pastor Sam Collier will preside over the event. The King Center CEO, the Rev. Bernice A. King, will give the Call to Commemoration. This year’s keynote speaker is Bryan Stevenson, lawyer, social justice activist, law professor at New York University School of Law,  founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (which was made into a movie starring Michael B. Jordan) U.S. Senator and Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, will give pastoral and city greetings, respectively. Several special guests will give tributes to Dr. King including:

  • Leo Smith, CEO, Engaged Futures Group, LLC
  • Rick West, founding director and director emeritus, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution
  • Renee Montgomery, co-owner and vice president of the Atlanta Dream
  • Pastor Dennis Rouse, author and founding pastor of Victory Church
  • Veronica Maldonado-Torres, president and CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Somalia Gilliard, a senior and Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy, will give a special tribute to Mrs. Coretta Scott King.

The commemorative service will feature performances by musical guests: Yolanda Adams, Kierra Sheard, Justin Schultz, Morton, Minister Angella Christie, Ashling Cole, Uzee Brown, and Bishop William Murphy. The Commemorative Service Choir will perform, accompanied by The Covington Regional Ballet. There will be an international musical performance by the Far East Broadcasting Company Korea Children’s Choir.

Additionally, President Biden delivered the Sunday sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the spiritual home of Dr. King,  TODAY! Read more about what he said HERE.

I’m forever grateful for the sacrifices of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his family. God has truly used them in a mighty way…

Any thoughts?

Malcolm-Jamal Warner & Michelle Williams To Cohost The King Center’s Beloved Community Awards This Saturday!

Hello World,

The Beloved Community Awards (formerly The Salute to Greatness Awards Gala) is back in-person and is one of the marquee events of The King Center’s week-long holiday experience. This year’s event, hosted by Malcolm Jamal Warner and Michelle Williams, will feature musical performances by MAJOR., Deborah Cox, Goldford, and Angel Taylor. The ceremony will be held at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on Saturday, January 14th, at 7:30 PM and will stream on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and on thekingcenter.org, Monday, January 16th, at 7:00 PM.

The Beloved Community Awards recognizes national and international individuals and organizations that exemplify excellence in leadership, pursue social justice, and are committed to creating the Beloved Community.  Afterglow will follow The Beloved Community Awards featuring DJ Frank Ski and multi-award-winning artist, Stephanie Mills in concert.

The King Center is proud to honor

  • Salute to Greatness Corporate Social Impact honoree, Ariel Investments accepted by John Rogers Jr., Chairman and Co-CEO
  • Salute to Greatness Humanitarian honoree, Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia
  • Beloved Community Civic Leadership honoree, Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and National Convenor of The Black Women’s Roundtable
  • Beloved Community Social Justice honoree, Shane Claiborne, Activist, Author, and Co-Founder of Red Letter Christians
  • Coretta Scott King Soul of the Nation honoree, Aminata Toure, Minister of Social Affairs, Youth, Family, Senior Citizens, Integration, and Equality of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
  • Yolanda D. King Higher Ground honoree, HollyRod Foundation, accepted by Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete
  • Beloved Community Youth Influencer honoree, Panther Anti-Racist Union of Pennsylvania Beloved Community Technological Innovation honoree, Reshma Saujani, Founder & CEO, Marshall Plan for Moms and Girls Who Code
  • Christine King Farris “Legacy of Service in Education” honoree, Dolly Parton, longtime education advocate, and entertainer, will be honored in absentia.

“I am excited to celebrate the impactful work that is taking place throughout our world. From honoring trailblazers across industries to educating our audiences on best practices in justice, equity, and peace; the Beloved Community Awards will be a night you won’t forget, as we continue to honor those committed to creating the Beloved Community,” said CEO, Dr. Bernice A. King.

Tickets for the awards ceremony and Afterglow are $250 and $75 for Afterglow only. To buy tickets, click HERE. 

Also, please see below for the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance Schedule of Events:

Any thoughts?

 

Also, please see below

Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate Films Political Ad in Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church During Martin Luther King Ecumenical Service…

Hello World,

You can always tell when it’s election season at my small church in southwest Atlanta…When random men or women start showing up and standing up boldly during the introduction of visitors portion of the service, you know that candidates are making their rounds throughout Atlanta’s black churches, ground zero of where to garner the black vote. Because our church is small, we know who is visiting and or campaigning. But’s that okay because the doors of the church are open to everybody and all political candidates are welcome from all parties as most churches, as 501(c)(3) organizations, will not back any particular candidate for any post.

But what has never happened and will likely never happen due to our size is a political candidate having himself or himself filmed while worshiping with us and using that footage for a political ad. Last week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Evans released a video on her Instagram account in which she was shown worshiping at Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church during the Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Ecumenical Service held on the national holiday. With a bluesy harmonica version of “Life Every Voice and Sing” the black American national anthem, as the soundtrack, Evans was shown walking in the sanctuary with the door being held for her, speaking with people in the pews, with her eyes closed and head bowed down in prayer, clapping, etc. Ebenezer’s pastor Dr. Warnock was shown in the pulpit area, the “Songbird of the South” Dottie Peoples sang in a shot. And then the crescendo of the ad is when her visage fades as Dr. King’s likeness comes into full focus…The words “Bringing Hope Back to Georgians” is the final message. Don’t believe me? See the political ad for yourself below…

Even with permission, this ad would have not been the move…Oh, so you comparing yourself to Dr. Martin the Luther the King Jr. in Atlanta? Oh, so you orchestrated a civil rights movement that is responsible for many if not most of black America’s civil rights? Oh, so you won a Nobel Peace Prize? Oh, so you are on a par with a martyr?

I mean that is the implication by the end of the ad even if that was not the intent. While we may have our first black princess across the pond in Meghan Markle  in a few months, as comedian Rickey Smiley recently said on The Wendy Williams Show, there are three families who have achieved royalty in the black American community – the Kings, the Jacksons and now the Obamas. You would do well to steer clear of any of them in black America if you’re trying to get black votes…

But the clincher of this spectacle is that the Evans campaign did not get permission of Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church for filming this ad. Where dey do dat at? Don’t believe me? See the official statement for yourself below….

The black church is the ultimate in sacred spaces in the black community and to parlay that experience for political capital is already a tricky thing…When political candidates show up at my church, we already know that they are not necessarily there to worship and may not even believe what we believe and we not even see them again until the election season, but we welcome them anyway because we do want to get a sense of who may be running the community in which our church is located. But this ad has gone too far. Turn to your right and turn to your left and say, “Neighbor, don’t use me in your political ad without permission.” Smh…And Ms. Evans may be a great governor but if she keeps on like this, she likely won’t get there…

Any thoughts?