There is a host of events scheduled in Madison to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. coming up and it will all get started with fellowship and food at Gordon Commons in downtown Madison this Friday.
“The MLK Free Community Dinner, hosted by the King Coalition, has been a great tradition. This year, we will be celebrating our 30th year,” says Ed Lee, co-chair of this year’s King Coalition along with Gloria Hawkins. “It’s a great event to kick off the King Holiday weekend events.”
The King Coalition plans, organizes and promotes events honoring the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the City of Madison and Dane County. It is a coalition of community volunteers who come together from all sectors of our community: business, labor, faith, schools and universities, non-profits, government, peace groups and service organizations.
“The annual community dinner is free and open to everybody in the community. There’s great food and great fellowship,” says Lee, senior vice president at the Urban League of Greater Madison. Lee has been part of the King Coalition for 19 years now. “Personally, I enjoy it as a kind of low-key event. There’s not a lot of talking heads and speeches. It’s really just a place where people can come and sit and have a good meal and to meet some new friends and interact with other folks from the community.”
The King Coalition aims to bring people from all walks of life together in the spirit of true brotherhood and sisterhood to commemorate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, the renowned leader of the civil rights movement. Moreover, King Coalition events encourage the people of the Dane County community to reaffirm their commitment to building a just community out of our racial, religious and economic diversity.
“Traditionally, we get a really diverse group of attendees at the MLK dinner – racial diversity, socioeconomic diversity, ethnic diversity, religious diversity. Really folks from all walks of life,” Lee says.
The coalition makes special efforts every year to promote the event to various food pantries in the area. “We run a free shuttle bus from the YWCA downtown shelter to Grace Episcopal Church shelter on the square to Gordon Commons and back,” Lee says.
Dinner will include fried and baked chicken, mac n’ cheese, mashed potatoes, biscuits and gravy, vegetables, sweet potato pie, and more. “I’m hungry just thinking about it,” Lee laughs. “It’s always very good food at the event. It’s a great meal.”
Along with the great food, the MLK Free Community Dinner will feature performances by the Madison Music Makers, who bring young people of different backgrounds together in a community setting to share music-making. Madison Music Makers provides music instruction and performance opportunities to Madison’s children at various community centers including Bayview, Centro Hispano, and Goodman Community Center.
The MLK Free Community Dinner is just the kick-off to a busy MLK weekend.
“The Urban League will be having its annual youth recognition breakfast on Sunday and the King Coalition will host an Ecumenical service at Mt. Zion Church on Sunday evening,” Lee says. “The Urban League and the King Coalition and the UW will collaborate on Youth Service Day on Monday that will happen on the UW campus at the Institutes for Discovery. Our culminating King Coalition event is the official City-County Observance on Monday night when the mayor and county executive present their annual humanitarian awards. Our keynote speaker this year is Mary Frances Berry.
The King Coalition has coordinated the official City of Madison and Dane County Observance of the King Holiday since 1985. Dr. Mary Frances Berry is a highly acclaimed author, educator, and historian.
“She will be phenomenal,” Lee says. “We are excited to have her in Madison.”
First things first, however, and that is the MLK Weekend kick-off that is the MLK Free Community Dinner.
“It’s about great food and great fellowship. It’s about bringing the community together,” Lee says. “I think we need that now – in a lot of ways – more than ever. For those of us who are advocates for equity and social justice, I think there’s a lot of uncertainty about what the future holds now. So, let’s come and just be together and be a supportive community on Friday.”
