WS Chronicle

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Bishop Todd Fulton, senior pastor of Mount Moriah Outreach Center in Kernersville, will be the keynote speaker at  the 37th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Noon Hour Commemoration on Monday, Jan. 16 at noon. It is being moved to Union Baptist Church, 1200 Trade Street, NW in Winston-Salem.

The upper level of Benton Convention Center is undergoing extensive renovations and the lower level is too inconvenient and lacks sufficient access.  Bishop Sir Walter Mack Jr., pastor/teacher, consented to the use of Union Baptist Church’s facilities for the oldest celebration in Winston-Salem North Carolina. It’s a mile away from the convention center.

Since 1981, an observance has been held annually at 12 noon to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The first five years before the national holiday were on Jan. 15, his birthday; however, beginning in 1986, the event was moved to the official holiday on the third Monday of January.  The initial six observances were in three different locations but have been held in the Benton Convention Center since 1988.

Fulton is a native of Winston-Salem and a magna cum laude graduate of Shaw University with a B.A. degree in criminal justice and a minor in the philosophy of religion, as well as a Master of Divinity from Shaw University in 2008. He just completed a two-year term as the president of the Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem & Vicinity.  He has been credited with infusing new energy into this organization.

Dr. King said, “When evil men plot, good men must plan.”  This thought serves as the theme for his would-be 88th birth-day. Joycelyn Johnson, Former Winston-Salem council woman, community activist, and Community Outreach Coordinator at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, joins the Who’s Who of the scores honored with the MLK “Dare to Make a Difference” Award throughout the years in recognition of her efforts for human and civil rights.  A special reflective video tribute to President Obama will be shared as the ultimate example of “Daring to Make a Difference.”

A special litany of commemoration and inspirational music will round out the program.  As a community service project, the Phi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. in collaboration with the MLK Noon Hour Commemoration will provide a meal of soup, bread/crackers, dessert and punch and will “serve” the attendees including invited homeless individuals from the Bethesda Center, Samaritan Ministries and other homeless shelters, after the program.

Doors open at 11 a.m. to the public without charge or reservation; however, an offering will be lifted.  The program will conclude by 2 p.m.