MLK Celebration a hit to full house

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Attendees join in song to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

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The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration was held Sunday afternoon at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School.

This year’s theme was, “The Dream Continues: My Courage to Speak!” Alejandro Juarez, principal of MLK, acted as Master of Ceremonies for the event. Donald Holley, President of the MLK, Jr. Local Host Committee, welcomed a full house of attendees. It was the highest attendance since the years before the COVID pandemic.

Rev. Julius Washington of Second Missionary Baptist Church gave the invocation at the beginning of festivities, as well as the benediction at the conclusion. Following the Invocation, the audience joined together in singing, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often referenced as the “Black National Anthem,” a hymn composed by James Weldon Johnson and his brother John Rosamond Johnson in 1900. It was popularized during the Civil Rights Movement.