Seven Ways to Commemorate Martin Luther King Day

With less than a week until Martin Luther King Jr. Day, activists, arts organizations and politicians are all gearing up for a series of events to mark the holiday, which will be followed by continuing discussions of racism. (Mayor Hancock's office promises that the schedule for those discussions will be...

By Jamie Swinnerton

January 13, 2015

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With less than a week until Martin Luther King Jr. Day, activists, arts organizations and politicians are all gearing up for a series of events to mark the holiday, which will be followed by continuing discussions of racism. (Mayor Hancock's office promises that the schedule for those discussions will be released soon.)

At 6:30 p.m. tonight, at the corner of the 16th Street Mall and Arapahoe Street, political activities will kick off with a candlelight vigil and rally to protest the Keystone XL Pipeline. A special playlist of protest songs was created; you can find it on Soundcloud. The vigil is sponsored by 350 Colorado and Pledge of Resistance.

Following the vigil is a free concert at the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, with the Flobots, to celebrate the 24th annual MLK Jr. Humanitarian awards. According to the CSO website, "In collaboration with the full orchestra, the FLOBOTS will perform powerful orchestral arrangements of their music, with original arrangements by Tom Hagerman of DeVotchKa, commissioned by the Colorado Symphony." The concert starts at 7:30. Although the event is free, a ticket is needed for admission.

At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 16, at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, the Rocky Mountain Children's Choir and Johnny 5 will be performing songs from the Civil Rights movement, many of which were used in the film Selma. Tickets are $25.

At 11 a.m. on Sunday, the Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church will host "The Beloved Community: Other Americans Dreams" and asks people to "join us as we affirm our commitment to building up a new world."

And at 9 a.m. on Monday, people will gather in City Park for the annual MLK Marade. The marchers will include politicians and activists inspired by the Flobots' No Enemies project.

Following the Marade, the Denver Freedom Riders will present the Black Lives Matter Conference at the McNichols Building.

But the movement doesn't stop after the Marade is done. At 7 p.m. on January 26, there will be a "No Enemies: Case Study II" program at the Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church, studying the role that music played in the Nueva cancion movement in Chile.

Follow Flobots and Denver Freedom Riders on Facebook to get updates on future events.

Have a tip? E-mail [email protected].

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