In the first of several Hopkinsville events honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, Cedar Grove Baptist Church will host a celebration of the civil right leader at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The church choir will provide music, and Minister Keith Mahoney Jr. will give the keynote address. The church is located at 1106 E. Second St.
Hopkinsville’s observance of MLK Day will continue Monday with a march followed by a keynote address at Hopkinsville Community College, and then a performance by Fisk Jubilee Singers at the Alhambra Theatre.
The Hopkinsville-Christian County Human Rights Commission organizes the march in observance of the federal holiday, which honors King as the leader of the nonviolent movement for civil rights in the United States.
The march will begin at 10 a.m., going from Freedom Elementary School to HCC’s Auditorium. The walking distance is approximately three-quarters of a mile.
Nicole Poindexter, who is the director of Full Service Community Schools for Christian County Public Schools, will be the keynote speaker at HCC.
Poindexter is a former Hopkinsville Middle School principal. She began her career in 1996 as a special education teacher for the local district and also was a guidance counselor before becoming an administrator. She is a member of the current class of Leadership Hopkinsville-Christian County.
In conjunction with MLK Day, the commission is also sponsoring an art contest. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade are invited to submit original artwork centered around the MLK holiday.
The art should be on paper or canvas measuring 8.5 by 11 inches. The deadline to submit work to the HRC office, at 715 S. Virginia St., is Wednesday, Jan. 15.
Prizes for the winners will be awarded during the Fisk Jubilee Singers performance at the Alhambra, 507 S. Main St. The a cappella group, established in 1871, is comprised of students at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Fisk performance begins at 2 p.m. Tickets, available online, are $50 for general admission and $38 for students/military.
The performance is part of the Pennyroyal Arts Council’s 2024-25 Live at the Alhambra Series, so season ticket-holders have already purchased admission for this show.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
