Three women lead a larger group marching along a downtown street.

Downtown march, speaker mark joint celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day

by Jerry Boggs

Centre College and the Danville/Boyle County community marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day with an array of events both solemn and celebratory, kicking off with a downtown march and culminating in a program hosted at the Norton Center for the Arts.

Scores of marchers braved single-digit temperatures and many more joined them later in the morning for a ceremony featuring a keynote address by the Rev. Daniel Corrie Shull, senior pastor of Burnett Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville and chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Education.

A man speaks into a microphone mounted to a lectern bearing a Centre College sign.
Rev. Daniel Corrie Shull

Shull’s address looked to the future, focusing on the question, “What type of America will we become?” and King’s vision of a “beloved community” where everyone can enjoy freedom and equality.

“King reminded us we live in the world house, and the beloved community is worth fighting for,” Shull said. “So perhaps young people, resistance has to be a part of your world. You have to once again go about the business of bridge building, of learning from other cultures and other ethnicities, of making friends with people who are not like you, of not being afraid of ideas that challenge your thinking, that expose you to things that you had never learned before, that you didn't pick up back home, but will help someone back home live a little bit more free.

“Either we live together as brothers and sisters, or we perish as fools.”

Two men and two women pose for a photo. A man and woman in the center of the photo hold awards they just received.
Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Dr. Anthony Jones, Spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. award winners Glo Lewis, Clay Taylor and Director of Diversity and Inclusion Melinda Weathers. 

This year marked the introduction of awards to be given annually marking members of the local and Centre community who embody the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. The inaugural Spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. Awards were presented to community member Glo Lewis, Centre Associate Director of Admission and Director of Diversity Engagement Clay Taylor ‘16 and Centre student Kasey Montgomery, student government association president. 

A man speaks into a microphone mounted to a lectern bearing a Centre College sign.
President Milton C. Moreland

Additional speakers included Centre President Milton C. Moreland, and Anthony Jones, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at the College, and Danville Mayor J.H. Atkins.

Performances included the Danville/Boyle County combined choir, along with poetry readings by Danville High School poetry contest student winners, and members of the Centre class of 2027, Joyner Jikang, Ariel Livingston and Janala Allison.

Following the march, guests enjoyed warm drinks, pastry and live music by Michaelfly & The Sounds with guest performer Kristen Carey.