On Monday, Jan. 19, community members will pay tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. during the City of Lafayette’s tenth annual Martin Luther King, Jr. March for Peace and Celebration.
Planned in conjunction with the federal holiday, the event will kick-off with a community march at 12 p.m. at the northwest corner of West Baseline and North Public Roads. The march will conclude at LaMont Does Park (500 E. South Boulder Road), where a celebration will be underway.
Free and open to the public, the afternoon celebration will include a welcome by local elected officials; slam poetry; monologues from Motus Theater’s “Do You Know Who I Am?;” and performances by CU Mile 21, the Second Baptist Church’s Shekenah Glory Choir, and the Kutandara Center’s Shamwari and Tamba Teen Bands. In the Buff, a CU-Boulder A Capella group will also perform prior to the march. Community members will also have an opportunity to complete several student-initiated service projects throughout the event, which will conclude at 3 p.m.
“I am honored to represent CU-Boulder and my peers during Lafayette's MLK celebration,” said CU Student Government President of Student Affairs Juedon Kebede. “The CU Student Government, Public Achievement and other CU-Boulder groups, are also pleased to have an opportunity to strengthen our relationship with the City of Lafayette and celebrate Dr. King's work alongside community members.”
The City of Lafayette’s inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. March for Peace and Celebration was conceived by service-learning students at Escuela Bilingüe Pioneer in November 2004. Four members of the inaugural planning committee will serve as emcees during Lafayette’s tenth annual MLK event; they are currently in high school and members of the Lafayette Youth Advisory Committee. Along with the University of Colorado Boulder’s Public Achievement program, which will co-plan and co-sponsor this year’s event, Lafayette’s annual celebration is primarily organized by the Youth Advisory Committee.
“I am excited to once again play a large part in Lafayette’s MLK event and be joined by so many of my peers,” said Emma Piller, Lafayette Youth Advisory Committee co-chair and Centaurus High School senior. “It is important that community members, and particularly youth, have an opportunity to acknowledge Dr. King’s contributions while identifying ways to sustain his work.”
Community members are encouraged to meet outside the Lafayette Recreation Center (111 W. Baseline Road) by 11:45 a.m. The first 250 individuals to arrive will receive a free event t-shirt. Nonperishable food, and particularly healthy snacks, and new or gently used winter clothing will be collected on behalf of local high school students in need both prior to the march and at LaMont Does Park during the afternoon celebration.
The Lafayette Youth Advisory Committee engages Lafayette youth in outreach, advisory, and educational opportunities through solutions-based discourse and action in their community. In addition, the Committee advises the City Council on youth related issues and other relevant topics, and fosters youth leadership and civic participation in the greater community. Representing five local middle and high schools, 20 students currently comprise the Lafayette Youth Advisory Committee.
Housed in CU Engage: CU-Boulder’s center for community-based learning and research, the University of Colorado’s Public Achievement program seeks to promote student retention and access to post-secondary education through civic engagement programing. More than 100 CU-Boulder undergraduates and 350 K-12 students participate in the program each year.
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