M.L.K. Jr. celebration activities
Tuesday7 p.m. — Interfaith Celebration of M.L. King Jr. at Mercy Junction Justice and Peace Center, 1918 Union Ave.Thursday7 p.m. — Community Forum moderated by Kevin Muhammad at Eastdale Village Community Church, 1402 Tunnel Blvd.Friday7 p.m. — Claud Anderson speaks on empowering the black community at New Monumental Baptist Church, 901 Woodmore Lane. Event co-sponsored by Chattanooga Sankofa. Tickets are $10. Unity Group is asking people to wear dashikis to the event.Saturday 9 a.m. — Prayer Breakfast with Ana Garcia-Ashley of Gamaliel Community Network at Second Missionary Baptist Church, 2305 E. Third St. Tickets are $25.Monday 8:30 a.m. — The Chattanooga Office of Multicultural Affairs hosts an MLK Day of Service. Volunteers are asked to check in between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. at Glass House Collective near the corner of Glass Street and North Chamberlain Avenue. Service projects begin at 9 a.m. and should end by noon or earlier. For more information or to register online go to bit.ly/MLKDayCHA2017.11 a.m. — Techtown offers an introduction to robotics, film and circuitry for youth ages 7 and older. The event is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center at 200 E. M.L. King Blvd.3:15 p.m. — M.L.King Day March and main program. March lineup starts at 3:15 p.m. in the Urban League parking lot on M.L. King Boulevard and Peeples Street. March starts at 4. Main program starts at 5 p.m. at the Tivoli Theatre at 709 Broad Street. Charles Steele, CEO and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, is the main speaker.
The head of a civil rights organization co-founded by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and an author who advocates boycotts to achieve economic power will be speakers in the Unity Group of Chattanooga's 47th annual M.L. King Jr. Week celebration.
Claud Anderson, the first speaker, said that despite King's efforts for equality, blacks must change their economic and political behavior if they ever hope to reach economic equality.
Anderson, who holds a doctorate in education from Wayne State University, speaks at 7 p.m. Friday at New Monumental Baptist Church. Tickets are $10.
"I want people to understand the real true nature of black folks' socioeconomic dilemma in this society," Anderson said.
"They only control less than one half of 1 percent of anything of value, and that's what determines their opportunity in our society. That's exactly where they were when they came out of slavery."
Blacks are in a serious dilemma because they are unable to compete economically, said Anderson.
For survival they must renegotiate their relationship with all elected officials and major corporations "under a very simple premise," Anderson said. "They're going to withhold their support and their patronage for anything and anybody that does not support black America and the black community."
Anderson calls for blacks to boycott businesses and politicians who don't support the black community, regardless of their party affiliation or organizational ties. He said he no longer votes strictly in support of the Democratic Party.
"We will not support them or their political structure or any organizations or businesses that will not support black folks," he said.
"It ain't about hating anybody or being against anybody," he said. "Racism is a team sport. You must play as a team or you lose by default. Black folk must start identifying with their own people, building their own communities."
Anderson said he wrote the first affirmative action program in Florida around 1970 as state education coordinator under Gov. Reubin Askew, and later served as chairman for a commission of governors of southeast states, focusing on economic development. He is founder and president of The Harvest Institute, a think tank whose mission is the social and economic reform of black America. He is the author of the books "Black Labor, White Wealth" and "PowerNomics: The National Plan to Empower Black America."
The weeklong celebration starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday with an interfaith celebration at the Mercy Junction Justice and Peace Center at 1918 Union Ave.
Nation of Islam leader Kevin Muhammad will moderate a community forum on the "People's Agenda" at the Eastdale Village Community Church at 7 p.m. Thursday.
"It's a platform that comes from people in the community to tell elected officials exactly what they need rather than elected officials telling the people what they need," Muhammad said. "This comes directly from the people."
Ana Garcia-Ashley, who organized a grass-roots movement that helped more than 7,000 low-income families in Wisconsin buy affordable homes, will be the M.L. King Prayer Breakfast speaker on Jan. 14 at Second Missionary Baptist Church. Tickets are $25.
"Martin Luther King's dream has not been realized and so what we are doing in Chattanooga and across the country is rededicating ourselves to his work," Garcia-Ashley said.
Other local events include the city's 2017 MLK Day of Service. Volunteers may register online until 5 p.m. Wednesday or just gather on Glass Street at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 16 to make improvements to four Youth and Family Development Centers and fix up the Glass Street area.
And Charles Steele, president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, speaks at the main King program Monday. Steele is author of the book, "Easier to Obtain Than to Maintain; the Globalization of Civil Rights." The late King was the first president and a co-founding member of the SCLC.
Steele said in an interview Monday he plans to talk about the struggles poor people have with banks and predatory lending institutions, the impact of the civil rights movement and the significance of the SCLC.
"The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is the civil rights organization that has been in the forefront for all of the freedoms for disenfranchised people of all ethnicities and backgrounds, particularly African-Americans and poor people," Steele said. "We are the premier organization that has brought about the so-called freedoms that we have today."
The Unity Group, the city of Chattanooga and the City Council have all worked together in hopes of having a smooth celebration this year.
"The MLK March is an important, long-standing Chattanooga tradition that honors Dr. King's legacy," city spokeswoman Marissa Bell said in an email Friday.
"The city has worked with the organizers, as we have in previous years, to facilitate the production of the event and ensure this MLK Day is one of reflection and celebration that can be enjoyed by citizens across our city."
In 2016, tension between the Unity Group and the city mounted so high that for the first time in decades, the M.L. King Day Parade wasn't held on M.L. King Boulevard. And instead of having a downtown M.L. King program, the Unity Group's culminating celebration was at Brainerd High School.
Government officials said the problem was miscommunication.
Unity Group President Sherman Matthews said the city has been more supportive this year of M.L. King festivities than ever before. The process ran smoothly for the parade to be held downtown this year, and the city is helping the Unity Group financially with programming at the Tivoli Theatre, Matthews said. The City Council is funding Dr. Steele's presentation.
"This year the city and the City Council are making an effort to bring better communication than we've had last year," Councilman Yusuf Hakeem said.
"This year everybody is talking to each other," he said. "As a result of that we may have the best program that we've ever had here in the city of Chattanooga."
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.