Black Lives Matter co-founder to speak at M.L. King Day celebration

In this March 21, 1965, photo, Martin Luther King Jr. and his civil rights marchers cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., heading for Montgomery, during a five-day, 50-mile walk to protest voting laws. In this March 21, 1965, photo, Martin Luther King Jr. and his civil rights marchers cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., heading for Montgomery, during a five-day, 50-mile walk to protest voting laws.

By Yolanda Putman November 7, 2015 4 min read

The Unity Group, which for years has organized the annual M.L. King Day celebration in Chattanooga, said other organizations also are planning events during the week-long observance in January.

Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, will be the Unity Group’s guest speaker on Jan. 12.

Unity Group

The Unity Group hopes to raise $20,000 to fund its M.L. King Day celebration.Make checks payable to Second Missionary Services Inc. and put Unity Group on the memo line. Mail or deliver to Second Missionary Baptist Church at 2305 E. 3rd St. Contributions are tax-deductible.For more information, call Sherman Matthews at 423-364-3501 or email semjr@epbfi.com.

To participate

To participate in service activities along M.L. King Boulevard, email McKissic at jmckissic@chattanooga.gov.

Garza and two other women started the slogan in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Garza wrote a note to black people on Facebook intended to be a message of love. The note concluded with the sentence, “Black lives matter.”