MLK Jr. Day March, Commemoration Return To Falls Church In 2020

FALLS CHURCH, VA — A march and commemorative program honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will return for a fourth year in Falls Church. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration is planned for Monday, Jan. 20 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is free and open to all.

The event starts with a march at the Tinner Hill Civil Rights Monument, 510 South Washington Street. Participants will meet at 9 a.m. and march down Washington Street to Falls Church Episcopal, 115 East Fairfax Street, at 10 a.m. The march typically prompts a temporary road closure.

A commemoration program will follow at Falls Church Episcopal at 12 p.m. The keynote speaker is Joan Mulholland, a Freedom Rider and civil rights activist. Before the program, participants can connect with service organizations to learn about volunteer opportunities. RSVP for the event here.

The event is held by the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation and Social Justice Committee, which honor Falls Church's own civil rights history. Tinner Hill, now a historic site, was the location of one of the NAACP's early rural branches. Local African-American citizens fought a segregation ordinance proposed by the Falls Church Town Council in 1915, forming the Colored Citizens Protective League that became the Falls Church and Vicinity Branch of the NAACP.