Utahns to celebrate King Day

Utahns have plenty of opportunities over the next week to join in the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream for equality and social justice.

From joining in service projects to attending award ceremonies and speeches, Utah's minority leaders hope everyone will take time to remember the words of the civil rights leader.

In Ogden, Betty Sawyer hopes to recruit youth mentors at the Ogden Branch NAACP's annual prayer breakfast and march.

"Our focus this year will be, 'Each one reach one,"' Sawyer said. "The importance of our community getting back in touch with our young people."

And Salt Lake Branch NAACP president Jeanetta Williams is encouraging everyone to attend the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Luncheon, which will honor U.S. Magistrate Paul Warner and Frances Battle, principal of Bryant Middle School.

King, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35, was a key leader in the civil rights movement. He was assassinated in Memphis in 1968.

He was perhaps most famous for his words during the 1963 march on Washington, in which he described his dream of a better America. "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character," he said, in part.

Here are some of the commemoration opportunities along the Wasatch Front:

Provo-Orem

• On Monday, Brigham Young University and Utah Valley State College students will host a Community Outreach Day and the annual Walk of Life to commemorate King's life and mission.

More than 900 volunteers are expected to attend Community Outreach Day, which will begin at 9 a.m. with refreshments and a devotional in the Wilkinson Student Center Ballroom. The community is invited to participate in the Walk of Life, which will begin with a candlelight procession at the Carillon Bell Tower at 5:30 p.m. The procession will walk to the Wilkinson Student Center, where a program will be held from 6 to 7 p.m.

The keynote speaker for the program will be the Rev. France A. Davis from the Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City. The program also will feature video highlights from the "I Have a Dream" speech, as well as musical numbers performed by BYU Jazz Voices.

For more information, visit centerforservice.byu.edu or multicultural.byu.edu.

Ogden