{"id":121402,"date":"2026-01-05T23:04:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T23:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/121402\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T23:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T23:04:06","slug":"42nd-annual-reverend-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/121402\/","title":{"rendered":"42nd Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">42nd Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration &#8211; &#8220;Lift Every Voice: Be Courageous, Seek Justice, Show Love&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Presented by: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Committee, City of Fresno<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Friday, January 16, 2026 &#8211; Garlanding Ceremony &#8211; 11:45AM at Courthouse Park<br class=\" \"\/>Location: Van Ness Avenue and Tulare Street, Fresno, CA 93721<br class=\" \"\/>Welcome presented by District 3 Councilmember Miguel Arias and County Supervisor Luis Chavez. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Michele Cantwell-Copher, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools. The ceremony will also feature the King Elementary School Dancers and over 150 students from Fresno Unified and other local school districts. Contact: Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor (559) 435-2212 or Gail Gaston (559) 681-3140<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Saturday, January 17, 2026 &#8211; Clovis Police Department Community Breakfast &#8211; 9:00AM<br class=\" \"\/>Location: Clovis Veterans Memorial District, 808 Fourth St. Clovis, CA 93612<br class=\" \"\/>Keynote Speaker: Dr. Sa\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez-Sandoval, President, California State University, Fresno. Tickets $5 each (pre-payment required). Contact: Erin Ford-Horio (559) 324-2476 or erinf@clovisca.gov<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Sunday, January 18, 2026 &#8211; Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Vigil &#8211; 2:00PM at Impact Church<br class=\" \"\/>Location: 1461 N. Chestnut Avenue, Fresno, CA 93703<br class=\" \"\/>Contact: Pastor Edward Thomas (559) 473-5493<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Monday, January 20, 2025 &#8211; City of Fresno March &#8211; 9:30AM- 10:45AM<br class=\" \"\/>Location: St. John&#8217;s Cathedral 2814 Mariposa St, Fresno, CA 93721<br class=\" \"\/>Marchers will assemble at St. John&#8217;s Cathedral at 9:30AM. March begins at 10:00 AM, stops at Fresno City Hall, then proceeds to the Veterans Memorial Auditorium at 2425 Fresno Street for the Commemoration Program. Contact: James Lett III (559) 284- 6420 or Gail Gaston (559) 681-3140<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Monday, January 19, 2026 &#8211; Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Program and Community Awards 11:00 AM &#8211; 12:30 PM at Veterans Memorial Auditorium<br class=\" \"\/>Location: 2425 Fresno Street, Fresno, CA 93721<br class=\" \"\/>Join us to celebrate the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his contributions to community diversity and our enriched culture. The program will include the presentation of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Awardees (Education Award &#8211; Dr. Lisa Mitchell; Civil Service Award &#8211; Dr. Peter Robertson; Kimber Community Service Award &#8211; Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA), music, and a fireside chat with Central USD Superintendent, Dr. Mark Marshall. This year&#8217;s host is ABC30&#8217;s Jessica Harrington. Contact: Terri Kimber Edwards (559) 908-0639 or Eric Payne at Eric.paynecmc@gmail.com<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Other M.L.K. events happening throughout Fresno you may wish to attend&#8230;<br class=\" \"\/>Wednesday, January 14, 2026 Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce 2026 Business Salute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon at 11:30 AM<br class=\" \"\/>Location: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 2233 Cesar Chavez Blvd, Fresno, CA 93721 Tickets: $40 Register <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/fmbcc.com\/events\/#!event\/2026\/1\/14\/2025-annual-business-salute-to-martin-luther-king-luncheon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Friday, January 9, 2026 &#8211; Jazz Tribute to the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. &#8211; 9:00AM-12:00PM<br class=\" \"\/>Dr. Robert Mikell pays tribute to the legacy of Dr. King through commentary and music composed and recorded by Jazz artists who supported the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King&#8217;s &#8220;I Have a Dream&#8221; speech will be played in its entirety.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Thursday, January 15, 2026 &#8211; Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Rev. Dr. M.L.K. Art, Essay and Speech Contest Reception &#8211; 5:00PM at Clovis Veterans Memorial District<br class=\" \"\/>Location: 808 4th Street, Clovis, CA 93612. Contact: Dr. Jeff Hunt jhunt@fcoe.org<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Thursday, January 16, 2025 &#8211; West Fresno Ministerial Alliance Prayer Breakfast &#8211; 7:00AM at Cornerstone Conference Center<br class=\" \"\/>Location: 1525 Fulton St, Fresno, CA 93721. Keynote Speaker: Bishop Kenneth Ulmer. Contact Bishop Paul Binion (paulbinion@wscog.org).<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Sunday, January 18, 2026 &#8211; Countdown to King Rally at 1:00PM at Impact Church<br class=\" \"\/>Location: 1461 N. Chestnut Avenue, Fresno, CA 93703. Spirit-filled worship service includes music and an encouraging message of peace, unity, equality and love. Contact edwardthomas858@icloud.com<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"42nd Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration &#8211; &#8220;Lift Every Voice: Be Courageous, Seek Justice, Show&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[63821,8403,28647,112,114,113,45069,1081],"class_list":{"0":"post-121402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-63821","9":"tag-celebration","10":"tag-ceremony","11":"tag-fresno","12":"tag-fresno-headlines","13":"tag-fresno-news","14":"tag-martin-luther-king","15":"tag-no-ta"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}