King Day observances feature different interpretations of civil rights leader’s Memphis legacy
“Wow,” says young Timothy Mukupya while his father reads along with him in the background during a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum to pay homage on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, Jan. 21. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
James Curbeam helps lead the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade from the Pinch District to the National Civil Rights Museum Monday, Jan. 21. Curbeam led his fellow Teamsters in chants of, “No justice, no peace,” and other powerful slogans as the parade advanced through Downtown Memphis. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Teamster Georgia Richie helps lead the charge during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Downtown Memphis on Monday, Jan. 21. The parade culminated at the National Civil Rights Museum, where many more people gathered to pay homage to the slain civil rights leader. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Radio station 88.5 provided tunes for Martez Taylor (from left), 8; Brooke Tolbert, 6, and Caitlin Taylor, 12, to dance to in front of the National Civil Rights Museum on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2019. The museum hosted activities and programming on the national holiday, including live concerts, speakers and food trucks. (Houston Cofield/Daily Memphian)
Felicity Gwinn and the Whitehaven High Marching Band head up the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Downtown Memphis Monday, Jan. 21. The parade began in Auction Square and ended at the National Civil Rights Museum. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Teamster Wanda Alberton is front and center during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade through Downtown Memphis on Monday Jan. 21. “This is what we do: organize, organize, organize,” the veteran marcher said. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Members of the Whitehaven High School Marching Band paved the way for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade Monday, Jan. 21, from the Pinch District to the National Civil Rights Museum. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Sherry Mackey (right), from 95.7 FM, and John Best (left), from 88.5 FM, greet fans while making a Facebook Live video from the National Civil Rights Museum on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2019. (Houston Cofield/Daily Memphian)
The federal holiday honoring civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. included a new grant program for neighborhoods, calls for reparations, questions about who interprets King's legacy and City Hall honors for 10 women activists.
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Clayborn Temple Jim Strickland Lee Harris Martin Luther King Tami SawyerBill Dries on demand
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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