MLK Day celebrations get under way

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Monday morning the annual MLK Community March will kick off a day full of celebrations honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

People from around Austin will take part in the traditional walk starting at 9 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. statue on the University of Texas campus. 

There will be a short program before people then head to the south steps of the state Capitol at 9:45 a.m. That's where the Sweet Home Baptist Church choir will perform a gospel song, and marchers will then go to the historic Huston-Tillotson University campus.

The MLK Community Festival will start right after the march and go on until about 3 p.m. There will be music, food and activities for the kids.

The Austin Area Heritage Council said on the organization's page, MLKcelebration.com, that the event is about uplifting diversity and multiculturalism. The day is also about giving back and community service.

King encouraged people to live up to their potential, and he believed in a nation of freedom and justice for all.  

"The MLK Day of Service is a way to transform Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and teachings into community action that helps solve social problems," explains the website MLKday.gov. "That service may meet a tangible need, or it may meet a need of the spirit. On this day, Americans of every age and background celebrate Dr. King through service projects that strengthen communities, empower individuals, bridge barriers, and create solutions."

People in Austin can bring canned goods to the march that will help benefit the Capital Area Food Bank. 

King once said, "Either we go up together, or we go down together. Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness."

There will also be free parking for those who plan to go to the march.

Free parking information

• State's Visitors Garage (Corner of 12th & San Jacinto St. - Downtown Austin)
• Disch-Falk Field (1300 E. MLK Blvd.)
• Kealing Middle School (1607 Pennsylvania Ave.)
• Holy Cross Catholic Church (1610 E. 11th)
• Blackshear Elementary (1712 E. 11th)
• Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church (1801 Pennsylvania Ave.)
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church (1206 E. 9th)
• Mt. Olive Baptist Church (1800 E. 11th)

If you would like to find other activities in the area, check online.