Tacoma’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration to recognize community leaders Monday
“Hope and healing.”
That’s what the city of Tacoma hopes people take away from its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Monday.
“The City Events and Recognition Committee, along with Mayor [Victoria] Woodards, really wanted to have an uplifting tone for this year’s program,” Jessica Johnston, chair of the city’s Events and Recognition Committee, said on CityLine earlier this week.
The event will be held virtually again this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will premiere at 8 p.m. Monday (Jan. 17) on TVTacoma, tvtacoma.com and live on Facebook at facebook.com/TacomaVenuesEvents.
The event, now in its 34th year, commemorates the work of King, who led the civil rights movement in the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968.
The event will acknowledge Black Lives Matter and protests from the past year, feature conversations from community groups and local performers.
The event will also honor:
Gail Neal with the Lifetime Service Award, which recognizes an individual or a group dedicated to offering services to a given community or population. Neal is the executive director at the Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center supporting Tacoma families with child care, classes and other resources.
Latasha Ware with the Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes leaders who are 29 or younger. Ware has worked with Tacoma Community House and created a visual and audio storytelling project to uplift the narratives of immigrants and refugees living in Tacoma.
Candace Wesley with a special recognition by Mayor Woodards for support of the community. Wesley has previously organized Tacoma Ceasefire.
Tracie Davis with a special recognition by Woodards. Davis, a comedian and choir director, passed away from cancer earlier this year. Davis was a choir director for the city’s past Martin Luther King Jr. Celebrations.
