Peace & Prayer Walk in Honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & the SCLC

By Morgan Lawrence

In honor of the 61^st Anniversary of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of non-violence, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of the SCLC is hosting a Peace & Prayer Walk, Saturday, January 6, 2018. The Committee and SCLC members will assemble at the Martin Luther King Jr. statue on South Claiborne & Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, in New Orleans at 1:00 p.m., for the commemoration; then the walk will proceed down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

“We are celebrating Rev. Dr. King’s non-violence approach to civil rights. And since the city is celebrating New Orleans’ Tricentennial, we are also recognizing New Orleans as the organizing site of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After an initial meeting in Atlanta, at least 100 civil rights leaders gathered here on February 14, 1957, to launch the SCLC. Among them were Dr. King, Pastor A.L. Davis, Jr., Judge Israel Augustine, and Rev. Samson “Skip” Alexander, who met at Rev. Davis’ New Zion Baptist Church, at 2319 Third Street, in New Orleans,” says Janet Tobias, a commissioner of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee of the SCLC. This year also marks the 50^th Anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on April 4, 1968.