2022 MLK Day Celebration to Feature US Sen. Raphael G. Warnock
UPDATE Jan. 7, 2022: The program following the Freedom March will now be VIRTUAL ONLY, beginning noon Monday, Jan. 17, on Youtube. The parade will still take place at 10 a.m. with lineup beginning at 9 a.m. in Exhibit Hall C. More information at uky.edu/mlk.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec 23, 2021) — Lexington’s annual celebration and commemoration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday will take place Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. The Freedom March will begin at 10 a.m. at the Lexington Central Bank Center, and a program directly following the march will take place at 11 a.m. in Ballroom 3 of the Central Bank Center.
As Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaches, the University of Kentucky, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government and additional community sponsors are pursuing distinctive ways to highlight King’s legacy.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock will deliver a virtual keynote address on the theme of "Dr. King’s Beloved Community 2022: Facing A Time of Reckoning in An Age of Denial."
Since 2005, Warnock has served as the senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, spiritual home of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
A graduate of Morehouse College, Warnock holds a bachelor of arts degree in psychology, a master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, a master of philosophy degree and a doctor of philosophy degree in the field of systematic theology. He has also received honorary degrees from Morehouse School of Medicine, Fisk University and the University of the Virgin Islands.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Warnock made history by becoming the first African American elected to the United States Senate from the state of Georgia. Only the second African American to represent a southern state in the Senate since the Reconstruction era.
This year’s program will also include performances from UK alumni Michael Preacely and Ron Wilbur, UK doctoral student Erica Gabriel, Devine Carama, Charles Little and Shauna M. Morgan, UK associate professor of creative writing and Africana literature.
The march and commemorative program are all free of charge, and everyone is welcome to attend. Pre-registration is recommended. To pre-register, visit: https://bit.ly/MLKLEX22.
For additional information on the MLK Day celebration, visit www.uky.edu/mlk/. For the most updated details about events, please visit the MLK Day committee’s Facebook page.
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