XENIA — Martin Luther King Jr., day in Xenia will begin with a march and end with a community service celebrating his life.
Students of Central State and Wilberforce universities will come together for the annual March commemorating the “Civil Rights Movement: The Power of Community” Monday, Jan. 20 beginning at the CSU Sunken Garden at 9:30 am. and ending in downtown Xenia at the courthouse. This event is sponsored by the Delta Xi Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. King was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
Bro. Rev. JD Covington will speak at the courtyard gathering at the end of the march.
Following the March, the chapter will be hosting a Health and Wellness Retreat for senior citizens in the Student Centre at Central State University from 12:00 p.m until 2:00 p.m. All are invited to attend because there will be a portion of the event for everyone.
At 7 p.m. AHOP Church will host the community celebration which will include the AHOP Praise Band as well as the United AME Sanctuary Choir, and special guest speaker, the Rev. Dr. John Freeman, president of the African American Ministerial Alliance, pastor of United African Methodist Episcopal Church, and dean of religious life, community outreach and chaplain at Wilberforce University.
“I look forward to celebrating Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day of our past achievements’ in the civil rights movement, however, I am even more concerned about how civil rights affect us today and what we should be doing as a people to keep the dream moving forward,” Freeman said. “I believe one of the greatest achievements of the civil rights movement, was the Civil Rights Act which led to greater social and economic mobility for African-Americans across the nation and banned some racial discrimination, provided greater access to resources for women, religious minorities, African-Americans, other people of color and low-income families. The question that will not allow me to relax totally is where do we go from our day of celebration to address issues that we are now facing? ”
This yearly celebration service, co-hosted by the African American Ministerial Alliance and Xenia Area Association of Churches and Ministries, began in 2005 as a way of helping to unite the Xenia community.
AHOP is located at 282 Stelton Road, Xenia.
