AREA PROGRAMS HONOR KING

Tonight our community begins a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.

Southeast Missouri State University plans a number of talks, entertainment and programs during the coming week as a celebration of this extraordinary man. The second annual communitywide service is scheduled Friday, which coincides with the slain civil rights leader's birthday. It will be held at First Presbyterian Church, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Also Friday night, the second annual Martin Luther King Jr. Award will be presented to the area resident who has demonstrated in their life the ideals of peace, justice and human betterment that King stood for.

Tonight, the commemoration begins with the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund banquet, which will be keynoted by Mary Francis Berry. She is a former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Education and now serves as a U.S. civil rights commissioner and professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

A number of university activities are also scheduled next Monday a day off for most state and federal workers and area schools, including Southeast. These include a breakfast, an educational forum, a musical and oratorical tribute by students, a St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre Company performance, and a jazz performance by Ahmad Alaadeen and the Deans of Swing.

Through song and speech, the ideals of Martin Luther King will be remembered here in the coming week. In these times of racial strife, his words gain a new timeliness. These activities are for people of all color, all backgrounds. Through these programs and people, King's dream continues to live.