There will be a week of activities at the King Center commemorating King Day, including a march down Auburn Avenue, but there are also goings-on elsewhere in town.
Here are a few of the many ways Atlantans will commemorate the achievements of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and celebrate the national holiday established in honor of his birthday.
National Center for Civil and Human Rights
On Sat., Jan. 14, the center will celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King with an event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be games and the Center's CEO, Derreck Kayongo will give a book reading. A play written by a group of high school students along with playwright Pearl Cleage will be performed at 11 a.m. on Jan 16. Read more about the play below under the Alliance Theater heading. All of the Center's galleries will be open so you can learn more about the American civil rights movement or more about the global movement as well as view selections from the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection. There will also be an exhibit on King's relationship with his alma mater in commemoration of Morehouse's 150th anniversary. Adults: $18.25; seniors and students: $16.25; children (4-12): $14.25; 3 and under: free. 100 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd., Atlanta. 678-999-8990, civilandhumanrights.org.
Morehouse College
Morehouse, King's alma mater, plans a week of free activities, including a day of service starting at 8 a.m. Jan. 16 (contact Monty Whitney at 404-681-7575 or monty.whitney@morehouse.edu). Other service opportunities are at this link.
On Jan. 25, Morehouse will hold its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture and Conversation Series Program, an intergenerational conversation between two of its graduates, Martin Luther King III '79, and The Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock '91, along with State Representative Stacey Abrams and Ambassador Andrew Young. The conversation will be at the at the school's Bank of America Auditorium in the Shirley A. Massey Executive Conference Center on Wellborn St., Atlanta. (470) 639-0569 or kingcollection@morehouse.edu.
Morehouse has events planned from Jan. 13 through the 31st. See all of them here: www.morehouse.edu/kingcollection/celebration.php
DeKalb County
Dr. Francys Johnson, President of the Georgia NAACP will speak at the county's celebration of the national holiday. 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Jan. 13. Free. Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur. 404-371-2823, onedekalb.com.
Georgia Tech
Tech's 2017 MLK lecture, Setting the Agenda for the Next Civil Rights Movement will be given by Bakari Sellers, a lawyer and activist who's also a CNN analyst. Sellers will speculate on what Dr. King would consider to be the biggest challenges of today. January 11, 3 p.m., 350 Ferst Drive N.W., Atlanta. 404-385-4275. Free, but register here: www.diversity.gatech.edu/2017-mlk-lecture. See more Tech events here: diversity.gatech.edu/mlk-celebration-events.
Atlanta History Center
Admission is free at the Center and Margaret Mitchell House on King day and there's a full schedule of things to do. Author Frye Gaillard will talk about his book, "Go South to Freedom," and the unlikely direction a slave family took when they escaped to freedom. He'll sign copies after his 45 minute talk at 3 p.m. There will also be readings and interviews and a Freedom Ride simulation. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Jan. 16. Free. Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW. 404-814-4000. www.atlantahistorycenter.com.
Alliance Theatre
The Palefsky Collision Project, a script-writing workshop hosted by the Alliance, will present a reimagining of a performance from 2016 written by a group of participating high school students along with playwright Pearl Cleage, under the direction of Patrick McColery. That play, "A Celebration in Search of an Assumption: The Artist's Role in Wartime," will be performed three times during the King holiday week, twice in the Rich Auditorium at the Woodruff Arts Center and once at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Performances at the Woodruff Arts Center (3:30 p.m. Jan. 15 and 2:30 p.m. Jan. 16) are free but require an RSVP. The performance at the rights center (11 a.m. Jan. 16) is free with the price of admission. To RSVP, go to alliancetheatre.org/content/current-project.
Memorial Arts Building, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St., Atlanta.
Aurora Theatre
In another reimagining, playwright Katori Hall's "The Mountaintop" focuses on Dr. King's last night at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis in 1968. $20-$55. Jan. 12-Feb. 12. Aurora Theatre, 128 East Pike St., Lawrenceville. 678.226.6222. www.auroratheatre.com.
King Center
Along with its $250-a-plate Salute to Greatness awards gala Jan. 14, the King Center's annual commemorative service is at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16. Free. (limited seating). Ebenezer Baptist Church. 101 Jackson Street, Atlanta. Map. (Please take MARTA!) Each year a commemorative service features tributes to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year, Father Michael Pfleger, senior pastor at The Faith Community of Saint Sabina in Chicago is the keynote speaker. There will also be a tribute to Dr. King by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and plenty of musical performances.
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