Kansas City area events for 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations, Jan. 18-27

Jan. 18

▪ Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity’s 18th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast, 7:30 a.m., Beta Lambda Educational Institute, 2915 Swope Parkway, Kansas City. Free public event features speaker Dwayne Smith, provost and academic affairs vice president at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis. Includes continental breakfast and musical tributes.

▪ Motorcade/March for Hunger, departs 10 a.m. from Mount Zion Baptist Church, Fifth Street and Richmond Avenue, Kansas City, Kan. Event ends at Jack Reardon Civic Center at Fifth and Minnesota Avenue.

▪ Martin Luther King Jr. holiday celebration, 11 a.m., Jack Reardon Civic Center. Keynote speaker: Bishop Lemuel F. Thuston, jurisdictional prelate of the Kansas East Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ. Theme: “Reigniting the Dream; All Lives Matter.” Includes youth performances, scholarship awards, voter registration booth.

▪ Holiday celebration community forum, 3:30 to 5 p.m., Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, 2310 E. Linwood Blvd. Free public event focuses on reducing poverty and creating greater economic justice. Organized by American Friends Service Committee and the Greater Kansas City chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. More information at 816-931-5256 and afsckc@afsc.org.

▪ Lee’s Summit annual community celebration; pre-show at 5:30 p.m. and main event at 6 p.m. The Pavilion at John Knox Village, 520 N.W. Murray Road.

▪ Public mass celebration, 6 p.m., Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church. Keynote speaker: Jonathan Butler, the University of Missouri graduate student whose hunger strike spearheaded a student movement to combat racism and discrimination on campus. Celebration organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Jan. 19

▪ University of Central Missouri Freedom Scholarship Dinner, 6:30 p.m., in the Elliott Student Union ballroom. Keynote speaker: Cynthia “Mama J” Johnson, a Kansas City educator and consultant. Theme: Equality and education still matter. Event will honor Freedom Scholarship winners. Tickets range from $50 to $100 and are available at 660-543-4156 and from the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce.

Jan. 21

▪ Free film screening of “American Denial,” about historical bias in the United States, 5:30 p.m. University of Missouri-Kansas City Student Union auditorium, 5100 Cherry St. Reserve a seat with an RSVP to the Urban League at www.ulkc.org.

Jan. 27

▪ Eighth annual Martin Luther King Jr. lecture, 6 p.m., UMKC Pierson Auditorium, Atterbury Student Success Center, 5000 Holmes St. Speaker: Marc Lamont Hill, professor of African-American studies at Morehouse College. Topic: “Building Community in an Hour of Chaos: Progress in the Age of Obama.” Free to the public, but registration is required through the Division of Diversity and Inclusion’s event registration website at https://net2.umkc. edu/intapps/diversity/ registration.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 3:43 PM.