Honor MLK Day with a Rally & March Through Stamford

President of the Stamford Chapter of the NAACP Jack Bryant invites city residents looking to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day to participate in the Annual March & Celebration beginning at 10:30 a.m. and culminating at the Yerwood Center Monday.

The theme is Celebrating the Life and Achievements of Martin Luther King Jr.; From An Era of Police Brutality to Police Officers Becoming Leaders of “The Dream”.

A rally and march begins at 10:30 a.m. at Bethel A.M.E. Church at 150 Fairfield Avenue and ends with a program to be held at the Yerwood Center, 90 Fairfield Avenue.

Grand Marshals for the event will be minority Stamford Police officers. Mayor David Martin also plans to be in attendance.

The Holiday's History

For some, the national holiday honoring the prominent civil rights activist is a time to give back and serve the community, be it through removing graffiti or picking up litter in a local park.

For others, it’s an opportunity to educate themselves about King and his life's work. And for others, it’s a time to just kick back and enjoy the prolonged weekend.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, now a U.S. holiday, took 15 years to create.

Legislation was first proposed by Congressman John Conyers (D-Michigan) four days after King was assassinated in 1968.

The bill was stalled, but Conyers, along with Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-New York), pushed for the holiday every legislative session until it was finally passed in 1983, following civil rights marches in Washington. 

Then-president Ronald Reagan signed it into law. Yet it was not until 2000 that every U.S. state celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by its name. Before then, states like Utah referred to the holiday more broadly as Human Rights Day. 

Now, the Corporation for National and Community Service has declared it an official U.S. Day of Service.