The MLK Coalition is remembering civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. with the 44th annual commemorative march from the Freedom Center, an interfaith prayer service on Fountain Square, and a program at Music Hall Monday.
Reverend Derek Terry is pastor of St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Cincinnati. He is the keynote speaker at Music Hall, where the theme is "400 years of slavery ends with us." Terry examines how to move civil rights forward but he's not extremely optimistic. "I'm most bothered by the racism, the sexism, classism, homophobia, transphobia and all those things that are being normalized," he says.
He adds it's easy to be ignorant to situations that are not your own. Terry came out as gay in 2015 on the Iyanla Fix My Life program on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
"It's really easy to be bigoted," Terry says. "It's really easy when you're in your own little bubble when you only think about yourself." Terry says he would like people to get to know others who are not like themselves. "Sometimes we forget the humanity in other people."
The march from the Freedom Center starts at 10:30 a.m. Monday. At 11 a.m., there's an interfaith prayer service followed by the Music Hall program at noon.
Also Monday, general admission is free at the Freedom Center. A couple of exhibits cost extra, includingThe Rosa Parks Experienceand Mandela: The Journey to Ubuntu.
Hoxworth Blood Center’s Annual MLK Day Blood Drive will begin at 11 a.m. on the third floor of the museum. To schedule an appointment, please call (513) 451-0910 or visit hoxworth.org/groups/mlk.
