NORTH READING — The North Reading Human Rights Group will host a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day gathering at the Flint Memorial Library Activity Room on Monday, January 15, from 1–2 p.m.
The ceremony will consist of reading from Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Anyone who would like to take a turn reading may do so. The NR Human Rights Group hopes that reading Dr. King’s work will remind us of things that have changed but also recognize how much of his vision has not yet been achieved.
To further honor Dr. King, a community breakfast and cultural celebration is being held at the Reading Memorial High School Performing Arts Center at 9:30 a.m., also on Monday, January 15. Music at the Reading event will be provided by the RMHS Choir and the Korean Church of the Nazarene Choir.
The keynote speaker is Latifa Turner Ziyad, a New England native who grew up in Roxbury. The daughter of the late Roxbury activist and artist Jacqueline Muhammad and the granddaughter of slain civil rights leader and judge Maceo H. Turner of Atlantic City, N.J., she once worked for Harvey Johnson, the first Black mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, as the mayor’s Liaison of Planning, Research and Development. She currently owns 313WON Productions, a media company for social good.
The North Reading gathering has been scheduled for the afternoon in order to not conflict with the Reading event. It be short and simple so the NRHRG encourages those interested to attend both. Contact the NRHRC (northreadinghrg@gmail.com) with any questions.