Traditional and new events mark Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in Wichita
Several events this weekend and one later this month in Wichita will celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
But with forecasted inclement weather, a longtime parade won’t be one of them.
Organizers decided to cancel the parade earlier this week, according to Wade Moore, the founder and dean of the Urban Preparatory Academy in Wichita and a senior pastor at Christian Faith Centre. It’s the second time the parade has been canceled because of weather conditions since he helped start the parade more than a decade ago, Moore said.
The remaining scheduled events range from a celebration started more than 40 years ago and featuring a Grammy Award-winning gospel singer and evangelist to awards ceremonies recognizing both individuals and organizations whose work and lives help further King’s ideals.
The upcoming events, listed by date, include:
Saturday, Jan. 13
Eta Beta Lambda, the local chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity that King belonged to, is hosting an awards luncheon in the Beggs Ballroom of Wichita State’s Rhatigan Student Center from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
This is the first time the local chapter is handing out awards to celebrate two individuals and an organization, according to chapter president Cameron Martin. Nashell Williams is being recognized for the work she does as the program coordinator for the Wichita Sedgwick County Community Action Partnership, which provides various services and programs to help lower-income families. Brandon Clark, a former Wichitan who has worked for the past 25 years in student affairs at Kansas State, is getting the group’s Brotherhood Award for his work within the fraternity and community. It Takes a Village, a nonprofit that provides transitional housing for foster care and at-risk youth, is getting the chapter’s organization award.
Brian Black, a global director with the chemical company DEI Hexion Inc. in Pittsburgh, will be the featured speaker. Black is likely familiar to Wichitans since he was a former CEO with the local Urban League and also headed up diversity and inclusion efforts at Spirit AeroSystems.
Tickets are $30 with proceeds helping support the chapter’s reactivated Alpha Esquire Mentorship Program for Sedgwick County youth in grades eight through 12. To buy tickets, go to ictalphas.org, email ictaplphas@gmail.com or call 316-269-5858. Tickets can also be purchased at the door.
Sunday, Jan. 14
At 5 p.m. The Kansas African American Museum will livestream its Ignite the Dream program, featuring Kaye Monk Morgan, the CEO and president of the Kansas Leadership Center, and Brad Richards, TKAAM’s new education manager. The event can be watched on TKAAM’s Facebook page, facebook.com/TKAAM, or YouTube channel.
Monday, Jan. 15
ARISE, a diverse, local choral group, is holding its eighth annual awards and scholarship breakfast starting at 7:30 a.m. in the Beggs Ballroom of WSU’s Rhatigan Student Center. ARISE president Gerald Norwood describes the event as celebrating the diversity that King advocated for within companies, public and private organizations and everyday people “who through doing their daily work are finding ways to extend what King stood for.” The six people, whom ARISE calls its heroes and sheroes, being recognized are Kevin Harrison, assistant teaching professor and director of diversity, equity and inclusion at WSU; Jackie McGilbray, owner of the boutique Jewel Angels, and Darren McGilbray, president of Popeye’s; Donna Pearson, an archivist with the Kansas Historical Society; Mark McCormick, deputy director of strategic initiatives with the ACLU Kansas; and Christina Long, an entrepreneur who heads up CML Collective, which specializes in diversity, equity and inclusion strategies.
Along with recognizing their youth scholarship recipients, ARISE will also perform two spirituals.
Tickets are $30 and must be purchased in advance by contacting Norwood at 316-258-2749. Table sponsorships are also available.
This year’s featured guest at the longtime Greater Wichita Ministerial League worship celebration — happening at noon at the WSU Hughes Metropolitan Complex, 5015 E. 29th St. North — is Dorinda Grace Clark-Cole, a Grammy-winning gospel singer, talk show host and evangelist. She won two Grammy Awards as a member of the Clark Sisters, a family vocal group.
The worship celebration is Wichita’s longest-running event commemorating King, started more than 40 years ago around the time that federal legislation created the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday in 1983 and Kansas recognized it in 1985. The service is free to attend.
Clark-Cole will also be the featured guest at the Greater Wichita Ministerial League’s luncheon following the service from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Hughes Metroplex. Tickets start at $40. To purchase, visit bit.ly/3GFOzZ8.
Eta Beta Lambda, the local chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity King belonged to, is holding its second event at 7:06 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church, 2653 N. Hillside. Mark Dupree, the first Black district attorney elected in Wyandotte County, will be the guest speaker. The start time of the celebration service is a play on the year that the oldest Black fraternity in the U.S. was founded, which was 1906; in military time, 7:06 is 19:06. The service is free to attend.
Wednesday, Jan. 31
Kyle Ellison, who heads up the new Khan Learning Lab opening in Union Station later this year, will be the featured speaker of WSU’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion event starting at 6 p.m. in the Cadman Art Gallery in the Rhatigan Student Center. The event is free.
A graduate of Wichita Northeast Magnet High School and WSU, Ellison learned grassroots organizing, community-building, and social justice strategies as the 16-year-old president of Hope Street Youth Development. He was the former head of Real Men Real Heroes and has won several awards recognizing his accomplishments, including the 2023 H.N. Sims Excellence in Education award given by the Wichita NAACP.
