(Seguin) — Seguin boasts one of the largest celebrations of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Seguin MLK Day Planning is releasing its lineup for this year’s event, which runs from Thursday, Jan. 11 through Monday, Jan. 15 at several locations around Seguin.
MLK Committee members Herman Lampkin, Terrance McClain and Joe Patterson will be the guests this week on radio station KWED’s Saturday Topic program. The trio will discuss the ins and outs of this year’s celebration of Dr. King. Lampkin says the five day event includes a solid lineup, that offers something for everyone. This list includes a MLK Banquet and Play, a Gospel Fest featuring the Seguin Community Choir, a church service, the Seguin ISD’s Choir Showcase, the annual MLK Freedom March and more. The banquet and play at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13 in the Coliseum is the only paid event. Tickets to the play are $50 each and can be purchased now from any MLK Committee member. A link to purchase tickets and sponsorships can also be found the Seguin MLK Facebook page. Again, most of the events are free.
Lampkin says they hope everyone can come out and see what’s being offered this year.
“Yeah, it’s a great opportunity for us to come together and remember everything that his life stood for. We always have a week-long celebration of great events, that we really strongly encourage everybody to come out and be a part of,” said Lampkin.
There’s a great deal of political divisiveness in America today. McClain says the Seguin MLK Freedom Week activities are all designed to bring people together to celebrate a true American hero. He says it’s important to remember this history.
“I think it’s really critical that we continue to to teach our children this. They always say…if you don’t know your history, you’re destined to repeat it. And so, for me, I want to see this grow. I want to see it (grow), and I want to see more people involved in it, (and) not just the Black/African-American community. I want others to be involved in it too, because Black History is everyone’s history,” said McClain.
The community-wide tradition of celebrating the legacy of Dr. King goes back decades in Seguin. Patterson says the committee and its partners have been working for years to grow the local MLK Day activities. He says not only do they continue to produce a multi-day event in Seguin, but the committee has also offered its support for other emerging MLK events in other parts of the state.
“The MLK Committee of Seguin has branched out and we’ve assisted and helped (places like) Kingsville to become a part of our ideas or our mission. They (now) have their own version of a Martin Luther King celebration at the same time that we have ours. We haven’t been able to keep up with them, but we (helped) get them off the ground and got them (going). New Braunfels is another one (we helped). We were very instrumental in getting them started. So, we’re not locking this into Seguin and Guadalupe County. No, this is broad and it’s spreading,” said Patterson.
The full conversation about the Seguin MLK Freedom Week celebration can be heard on this week’s Saturday Topic program. The show airs at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on AM 1580 KWED. You can also listen live online at seguintoday.com.