Spokane MLK Day City-Wide Rally & Unity March set for Tomorrow

The 2017 MLK Day Annual Unity Rally and March will take place tomorrow in downtown Spokane.

This year’s events will include a rally, march, resource fair, a Black History 101 Mobile Museum, blood drive and entertainment.

Freda Gandy, executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center said in a press release that the event is a time to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

“It’s also an opportunity for us to renew our personal vows of citizenship through service to others and engage in conversations to advance our community goals of diversity and inclusion,” she added.

The event kicks off at 10 a.m. and will take place at the Spokane Convention Center, Exhibit Hall B. Participants must undergo a security screening and are therefore asked to arrive early.

Guest Speakers include Spokane Mayor David Condon, Dr. Beck A Taylor, president of Whitworth University and Phil Tyler, president of the Spokane NAACP. Rev. Happy Watkins will also deliver King’s “I have a Dream” speech . The rally is followed by the Unity March through the streets of downtown Spokane.

After the rally and march, a resource fair will occur in Exhibit Hall B featuring social services and non-profit agencies. The Black History 101 Mobile Museum, a traveling table top exhibit depicting Black memorabilia, will be available for viewing featuring the Martin, Motown and Michael – 3 M’s Exhibit. The 3M’s exhibit celebrates the legacies of three of the most influential icons in American history. Inland Northwest Blood Center will host a blood drive for participants wishing to donate or signup for a later date.  The Community School Drummers will perform African and Afro-Cuban rhythms and Grant Elementary School Drummers and Dancers will perform as well. All the activities will take place until 2 p.m.

Tracy Simmons

Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.