Central Point’s 2nd annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., will be from 6-7pm on Thursday, January 15th. King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Master of Ceremonies of the celebration is Matthew Reynolds, teacher at the Crater Renaissance Academy of Arts and Sciences. Keynote speaker Claudia Alick is an Associate Producer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, producing events that bring OSF into artistic collaboration with our community such as “The Green Show”, The Daedalus Project, and Juneteenth, OSF Open Mics as well as producing audio-plays with OSF such as the Grammy nominated Hamlet. Her latest one person Show “Fill in the Blank” exploring disability and the medical industry was last performed in the 2013 OSF’s Presents series and she recently spoke at TedxFargo.  Named by American Theater Magazine as one of 25 theater artists who will shape American Theater in the next 25 years, Alick has served as the Artistic Director of Smokin’ Word Productions, is a playwright, NYC Fresh Fruit directing award recipient, and featured on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam.  This marks her 8th year directing the Ashland Martin Luther King Day Celebration and she is honored to be speaking to the Central Point community.

The event offers a tribute to King through art, music, and performance pieces by District 6 students, Precision Cheer Academy, School Resource Officer Jeff Britton, and the Rogue Valley Peace Choir!  To cap off the evening there will be a rebroadcast of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

The event is free, but those attending are asked to bring a nonperishable food item for donation for Maslow Project.

Celebration will be held at Crater Performing Arts Center, 655 N Third St. Central Point Oregon.