Clergy, lawmakers, law enforcement, schools and community members will gather at the Kansas Statehouse on Thursday to acknowledge the work of a non-violent civil rights leader.
The governor’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration will feature keynote speaker Dr. Anthony Moore.
Moore is a former chief diversity officer who currently serves as an adjunct professor and Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education in the Raytown School District.
Event organizer Kenya Cox, executive director of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission, says Moore believes in empowering others.
"He lived in a low-income, drug-infested neighborhood and grew up to be one of the first in his family to graduate college, to overcome low self-esteem and lack of confidence," Cox says. "[He is] motivated to help other young African-American males who find themselves in similar situations."
The theme of this year's celebration is “The Fierce Urgency of Now!,” a quote from Dr. King’s speech given during the 1963 March on Washington. King reminded a divided nation of the importance of walking forward together.
The celebration will also include a walk in solidarity at 11 a.m.
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Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.
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