Community | Events | News01/01/2021

River Valley MLK Commission to Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Events

Written By: Tina Alvey Dale

FORT SMITH, Ark. — The River Valley Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, in partnership with the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith, will host a series of events from January 17 to January 23 to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This year’s theme, “Hope in Action: Inspiring Our Future!,” underscores that hope isn’t just a feeling. It is turning optimism into action, showing responsibility for the future, and inspiring through example, all while continuing Dr. King’s mission.

The week-long slate of events will feature a scholarship banquet, an ecumenical service, a community breakfast, a downtown parade, and a series of educational lectures on the UAFS campus. 

Dr. Carolyn Mosley, president of the River Valley Dr. MLK Jr. Commission, highlighted the significance of the week’s theme, saying, Dr. Martin Luther King profoundly inspired hope, teaching that hope is active and not passive.

“He wanted us to know that hope is a moral choice that we should have to confront reality and to accept temporary setbacks! Hope is what we all must possess if we are to continue to work toward justice and equality for everyone,” Mosley said.

The events begin Saturday, January 17, with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Banquet at 6 p.m. in the Reynolds Room at UAFS, 5210 Grand Ave. The event is sold out. Dr. Daniel Black will deliver the keynote speech.

Dr. Black is an award-winning novelist, professor, activist, mentor and public speaker. His published works include They Tell Me of Home, The Sacred Place, Perfect Peace, Twelve Gates to the City, The Coming, Listen to the Lambs, Don’t Cry for Me, and Black on Black. His novel,  Perfect Peace, was chosen as the 2014 selection for “If All Arkansas Read the Same Book” by the Arkansas Center for the Book at the Arkansas State Library. In 2014, he won the Distinguished Writer’s Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writer’s Association.

A native of Kansas City, Kan., Black spent his formative years in rural Blackwell, Ark. He graduated from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) where he earned the Oxford Modern British Studies fellowship to study at Oxford University. He then received a fellowship to Temple University where he studied with Black Arts Movement poet laureate Sonia Sanchez. He has a doctorate in American Studies from Temple University and has spent the majority of his 30 academic years as a professor of African American Studies at Clark Atlanta University. 

Black lives in Atlanta and is the founder of the Ndugu-Nzinga Rites of Passage Nation, a mentoring society for people of African descent who seek to love themselves and build a world of character for their people. 

The weekend events continue Sunday, January 18, at 6 p.m. with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ecumenical Service at Community Bible Church North, 2901 Rogers Ave. Pastor Jonathan Lowder will deliver the evening’s message. 

Pastor Lowder has been the senior pastor at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville since 2024. A pastor, songwriter and psalmist, Lowder is a former pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Bolingbroke, Ga.

He graduated from Northside High School in Warner Robins, Ga., and studied at North Carolina College of Theology.

On Monday, January 19, the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast will begin at 7 a.m. in the Reynolds Room at UAFS. This free event will feature remarks by Dr. Dewayne Goldmon, senior advisor to racial equity to the Secretary for Agriculture during the Biden Harris administration.

A farmer in southeast Arkansas who has more than 30 years of experience in the agricultural sector, Goldmon is a two-time graduate of the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, earning bachelor's and master's degrees before earning his doctorate from Iowa State University, all in agronomy.

He has been a member of Bumpers College's Dean's Partnership Council since 2015.

Goldmon served as executive director of the National Black Growers Council, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates to improve the efficiency, productivity and sustainability of Black row crop farmers, prior to his appointment to the USDA. 

The Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade will follow at 10 a.m., starting at North Seventh Street and Garrison Avenue. Community members and organizations are invited to participate by registering at fortsmithmlk@gmail.com or calling 504-427-4013.

UAFS will host lectures and a Civil Rights display at the Boreham Library throughout the week. The UAFS Campus and Community Engagement office will host a peanut butter drive to benefit the River Valley Regional Food Bank.

The theme for this year’s lecture series is “Standing Up for What Is Right.”

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy," Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said.

Dr. Williams Yamkam, Associate Professor, History, Social Sciences and Philosophy, said it always with both reflexive awe and excitement that the university and community take a moment every year to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“As we celebrate MLK Week on our campus this year, we look forward to leafing through the legacy of Dr. King to highlight his call for courage in trying times. We hope to instill in our students this aspect of Dr. King's life work, so they ultimately chose to effectively get involved in community and civic affairs," he said.

Full Schedule of Events:

Saturday, January 17

• 6 p.m.: Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Banquet at the Reynolds Room, UAFS, 5210 Grand Ave.

Speaker Dr. Daniel Black

Sunday, January 18

• 6 p.m.: Martin Luther King Jr. Ecumenical Service at Community Bible Church, 2901 Rogers Ave.

Speaker Pastor Jonathan Lowder

Monday, January 29

• 7 a.m.: Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast at Reynolds Room, UAFS, 5210 Grand Ave.

Speaker Dr. Dewayne Goldmon

• 10 a.m.: Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade on Garrison Avenue

Parade Participant Registration: Contact fortsmithmlk@gmail.com or 504-427-4013

Wednesday, January 21

• 10-10:50 a.m. in room 204 of the Gardner Building 

“Standing Up to Arbitrary,” a public lecture on how some in Arkansas stood up to arbitrary power by Tom Watkins, UAFS Adjunct Professor of History

Thursday, January 22

• 2-3:15 p.m. in room 221 of the Gardner Building

" Standing Up to the U.S.,” a lecture on the International Reaction to the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Dr. Eric Baker, UAFS Assistant Professor of Political Science

Friday, January 23

• 11-11:50 a.m. at the Campus Center Fireplace

Standing Up to Hunger," a presentation by Hattie Hamilton, Interim Director of the River Valley Food Bank

Ongoing Activities

Civil Rights Display at UAFS Boreham Library.

Peanut Butter Drive at the UAFS Box Office.

For more information, contact the River Valley Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission at fortsmithmlk@gmail.com.