MLK Holiday: Ames Hosts Events Throughout January

AMES, IA — "Equality, Justice and Unity," an MLK Day Celebration event planned in Ames, is open to all communities in Story County this year. Iowa District Court Judge Romonda Belcher, the first African-American woman among the Iowa judiciary, will give the keynote address at a program that runs from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

The program will be held at Ames Middle School, 3715 Mortensen Road. It will celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a focus on how everyone can work toward a common goal of community cooperation and leadership.

“We’re hoping to make this a real coming together of people from throughout Story County who are concerned with racial strife, which we believe is growing in our nation, in our state and in our community,” George Belitsos, a member of the MLK Day Celebration Planning Committee, told the Ames Tribune. “I think Martin Luther King Day really gives us the chance to recognize the racial injustice that persists and has actually increased in the last year or two.”

The program will include presentation of the Ames Human Relations Commission's humanitarian of the year award, music, a welcome by Ames Mayor John Haila, and presentations by community groups.

Local Day of Service projects are also planned by the Volunteer Center of Story County in connection with the holiday, supported in part by a community grant from the Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau.

From 1 to 4 p.m. Monday, volunteer will make T-shirt mats and rugs at City Church, 2400 Oakwood Road. Volunteers are asked to bring old T-shirts. Finished mats will be donated local animal and emergency shelters for their programs. Sign up to volunteer and learn about more opportunities at www.vcstory.org.

Iowa State University programs

Several events at ISU are planned throughout January in honor of Dr. King. Classes will not be in session Monday in observance of the holiday.

The school's Martin Luther King Jr. legacy convocation, "Balancing Freedom of Expression and Diversity: Campus Conversation," will be 6 p.m. Jan. 18 at Memorial Union Sun Room. Join a discussion about balancing First Amendment rights with the concerns of diverse populations on university campuses.

The school also will host the lecture "Race and Justice in America" at 8 p.m. Jan. 29 at Memorial Union Great Hall. Equal Justice Initiative founder and executive director Bryan Stevenson will discuss the history of race in America's criminal justice system, as well as EJI's "Lynching in America" project. Stevenson's memoir, "Just Mercy," tells the story of a young lawyer fighting against extreme punishment and careless justice.

Photo: Martin Luther King Jr. in September 1964. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)