Staff at the City of Lenoir Martin Luther King Jr. Center will host several Black History Month events in February. The kickoff is Saturday, and all events are free to the public.
Concert and Vendors
The Place Church Praise Team out of Charlotte will put on a concert Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center. In addition to great music, attendees can visit several vendors that will be on site including Mee Mee’s Jewelry, Handbags, Clothing & Accessories and Ci Ci’s Sublimation and More!. The concert starts at 5:00 pm.
Movie Night
On Saturday, Feb. 11, Martin Luther King Jr. Center staff will host a showing of the movie "Till." Released last year, Till is based on the true story of Mamie Till-Bradley, an educator and activist who pursued justice after the murder of her 14-year-old son Emmett in 1955. Movie night starts at 4:00 pm and there will be light refreshments. Children 13 and younger must be accompanied by parents.
Quiz Bowl & Essay Contest
The annual Black History Month Quiz Bowl and Essay Contest will be held at 6:00 pm Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center.
During the Quiz Bowl, teams from Gamewell Middle School, William Lenoir Middle School, Hibriten High School, and West Caldwell High School compete to see which students can answer the most questions about Black History and be named the Middle School and High School champs.
Students from the four schools also submit essays about Black History for judging. The Essay Contest theme this year is "Emmett Till: Let the People See." Students must write a 250-word essay exploring how the murder of Emmett Till sparked the Civil Rights movement in 1950s and 1960s. The winners read their essay after the Quiz Bowl.
Martin Luther King Jr. Center Director Lester Whittington, at podium, hands a trophy to the 2019 middle school essay contest winner.
Blood Drive
On Tuesday, Feb. 28, staff will host an American Red Cross Blood Drive at the center from 2:00 to 6:30 pm.
Black History Month Social Media Posts
In addition to these events, staff will recognize and honor local Black history makers in Lenoir and Caldwell County on City social media.
The first local Black history month post honors the 1975-1976 Lenoir High School Bearcats Basketball Team. The 1975-1976 Bearcats were the first all-Black team at Lenoir High School after integration. Pictured below, back row, left to right: Phillip Horton, manager, Alton Michaux, Ty Yount, Jimmy Norwood, LaVerne Harper, Nolan Jones, Gary Myers, and Jack Teague, Coach. Pictured below, front row, left to right: Anthony Horton, Roland Icard, Roger Burgess, D.D. Reid, Robert Reid, and Gary Patterson.
Check out this post on City of Lenoir social media at:
MLK Jr. Center
The Martin Luther King Jr. Center is located a 313 Greenhaven Dr. For more information, call the Martin Luther King Jr. Center at 757-2170.
The City of Lenoir Martin Luther King Jr. Center