Events Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. in Oklahoma City

On the third Monday of January each year, the entire nation takes pause to honor the life, memory, impact and service of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A National Holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day sees a variety of types of commemorations across the United States. Oklahoma City events range from the yearly parade through downtown to a silent march.

Beginning at 2pm on Monday, January 19th in Oklahoma City, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade will start at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral at 127 NW 7th in downtown Oklahoma City.

The parade route will move South before moving to Harvey, then South again to Robert S. Kerr. After advancing West to Walker and South to Sheridan, the parade will continue through Bricktown on Sheridan to Lincoln. It is expected to end at about 5pm.

A map of the parade route has been provided by Downtown OKC.com and is in Adobe PDF format for easy viewing and printing.

The 12th annual Midwest City Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast at the Reed Conference Center near Rose State College will begin at 7:00am on Monday, January 19th.

Organizers expect between 400-500 people will enjoy breakfast followed by speeches and music.

The traditional silent march, in the style of the early civil rights movement marches, will begin at 9:45am on Monday, January 19th.

It will move from the Ralph Ellison Library on NE 23rd to the Oklahoma History Center on N. Laird.

At 11am on Monday the 19th, Governor Brad Henry will ring Oklahoma's replica of the Libery Bell in front of the Oklahoma History Center.

The annual program from the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition of Oklahoma City features the "I Have a Dream" speech by NAACP Youth Branch President Charles Shelton and keynote speaker Victor N. Woods, author and motivational speaker.

The program takes place at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral on NW 7th from noon until the parade begins at 2pm.