MLK Day features parades, service

Let Freedom Sing! Musical is Jan. 17 January 4, 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Jan. 18. Here's a lineup of some events that will celebrate the man and his achievements: Jan. 16 What: Day Peace Workshop at Scarritt-Bennett Center Workshop is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the peace commitment service is 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The workshop is designed to teach, motivate and inspire participants to become involved in promoting peace, following King's teachings. Those who participate will examine King's writings and speeches, explore current events and discuss whether peace is attainable to today's world. The Rev. Joe Agne, pastor of Memorial United Methodist Church in White Plains, N.Y., whose doctoral program focused on King's concept of a world community and peace, will lead the workshop. Cost and registration: $15 per person. The price includes lunch and snacks. Call 340-7557 or go to www.scarrittbennett.org to register and find out more information. Scarritt-Bennett Center is at 100819th Ave. S. Jan. 17 What: Re/Storing Nashville youth program of Manna-Food Security Partners. The noon event will pair up participants with community service projects led by a diverse lineup of religiously active youths from various backgrounds. Those who come will compost and weed at the Nashville Urban Harvest Farm, 1211 57th Ave. N. in West Nashville. The workshop will conclude with a lunch and a discussion of the importance of service and food justice across faith communities. The event ties together King's teachings using Scripture and community activism to inspire youths to promote healthy food environments in their communities. Young people will also have a chance to sign up for future Re/Storing Nashville training sessions to learn additional skills related to community organizing around food justice. Call Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee at 322-5638 or e-mail Jennifer Bailey at jbailey@hungercenter.org for more information. Jan. 17 What: Let Freedom Sing! musical tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. with the Nashville Symphony. The 7 p.m. concert features the Nashville Symphony with conductor Kelly Corcoran; Donnie Ray Albert, baritone; Celebration Youth Chorus with director Diana Poe; and Celebration Youth Chorus with director Margaret Campbelle-Holman. The Celebration Chorus and Celebration Youth Chorus join the Nashville Symphony for the yearly concert honoring the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Ticket vouchers are distributed in-person only at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center box office during normal business hours. There is a limit of four vouchers per person. Groups may receive up to 20 vouchers with a letter on the requesting organization's official letterhead. Other restrictions may apply. Call 687-6500 for more information. Jan. 18 What: 2010 MLK Day Nashville at the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, Tennessee State University and various other locations near downtown Nashville. A youth program will kick off the day of celebration at 9 a.m. at the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, 2708 Jefferson St. Folks will gather at various churches and other locations near downtown and then converge on the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church before 11 a.m. All are scheduled to leave the church together around 11 a.m. and march to the Gentry Center at TSU for the noon convocation. The keynote speaker is the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith Jr. The sites that will serve as meeting places in the morning before participants head to Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church are: Clark Memorial United Methodist Church, 1014 14th Ave. N.; First Baptist Church East Nashville, 601 Main St.; Greater Bethel AME Church, 1300 South St.; Lee Chapel AME Church, 1732 Scovel St.; Pearl-Cohn Magnet High School, 904 26th Ave. N.; Ted Rhodes Golf Course, 1901 Ed Temple Blvd.; Mount Ararat Missionary Baptist Church, 36 Fairfield Ave.; and Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 1112 Jefferson St. Jan. 17 What: Let Freedom Sing! musical tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. with the Nashville Symphony. The 7 p.m. concert features the Nashville Symphony with conductor Kelly Corcoran; Donnie Ray Albert, baritone; Celebration Youth Chorus with director Diana Poe; and Celebration Youth Chorus with director Margaret Campbelle-Holman. The Celebration Chorus and Celebration Youth Chorus join the Nashville Symphony for the yearly concert honoring the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Ticket vouchers are distributed in-person only at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center box office during normal business hours. There is a limit of four vouchers per person. Groups may receive up to 20 vouchers with a letter on the requesting organization's official letterhead. Other restrictions may apply. Call 687-6500 for more information. Jan. 18 What: 2010 MLK Day Nashville at the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, Tennessee State University and various other locations near downtown Nashville. A youth program will kick off the day of celebration at 9 a.m. at the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, 2708 Jefferson St. Folks will gather at various churches and other locations near downtown and then converge on the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church before 11 a.m. All are scheduled to leave the church together around 11 a.m. and march to the Gentry Center at TSU for the noon convocation. The keynote speaker is the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith Jr. The sites that will serve as meeting places in the morning before participants head to Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church are: Clark Memorial United Methodist Church, 1014 14th Ave. N.; First Baptist Church East Nashville, 601 Main St.; Greater Bethel AME Church, 1300 South St.; Lee Chapel AME Church, 1732 Scovel St.; Pearl-Cohn Magnet High School, 904 26th Ave. N.; Ted Rhodes Golf Course, 1901 Ed Temple Blvd.; Mount Ararat Missionary Baptist Church, 36 Fairfield Ave.; and Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 1112 Jefferson St. Jan. 18-28 What: Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture Series at Vanderbilt University. All events are free and open to the public. When: 6 p.m. Jan. 18, Benton Chapel on Vanderbilt campus Bob Moses and Rita Bender will deliver the keynote address. A candlelight vigil will follow. Moses was a pivotal organizer for the civil rights movement as field secretary for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and was director of SNCC's Mississippi Project. He was a driving force behind the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964 in organizing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Bender is the widow of slain civil rights worker Michael Schwerner, who was one of three CORE field workers killed in Philadelphia, Miss., in 1964 by an alleged KKK leader. Bender was also a member of CORE, serving the movement in Mississippi at the time of her husband's death. When: 3:30 p.m. Jan. 19, Flynn Auditorium, Vanderbilt Law School Lecture by Douglas Blackmon, a Pulitzer Prize winning author for his work Slavery by Another Name and The Wall Street Journal's bureau chief in Atlanta. When: noon Jan. 20, Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center on Vanderbilt campus Veterans of the Nashville sit-in movement will share their experiences. When: noon Jan. 21, MRL Building, Room 241 at Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Michael DeBaun, professor of pediatrics, biostatistics and neurology and director of the Sickle Cell Medical Treatment and Education Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital, will deliver a lecture, The Epidemiology and Treatment of Silent Cerebral Infarcts in Sickle Cell Disease. When: noon Jan, 23, Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center The fourth annual MLK Commemorative Series Youth Essay & Oratorical Contest and Luncheon will feature students from the Nashville community who will recite their winning essays and poems on King's life and legacy. A panel discussion titled Speak Truth to Power will be moderated by Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy. Panelists are: Lucas Benitez, co-founder and co-director of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers; Stephen Bradberry, head organizer of Louisiana's Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now; and Marina Pisklakova, an internationally recognized women's rights activist in Russia. By educating and organizing fellow migrant farm workers, Benitez has helped secure the first wage increase for tomato pickers in 20 years, exposed and stopped two slavery rings, and launched a Labor Action Rights program that collected nearly $100,000 in back wages. ACORN has been active in communities of color for more than 30 years. Bradberry has served in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in Louisiana for more than a decade. As founder of the National Center for the Prevention of Violence "ANNA," Pisklakova works to create an effective system of response to domestic violence by educating governmental officials and the public about the issue of domestic violence in Russia and other countries. Call 322-2457 for more information