Taylor will honor the legacy of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a march and other observances Monday.
The 21st Annual Greater Taylor Area Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration March starts 9 a.m. at the Dickey-Givens Community Center, 1015 E. MLK Jr. Blvd., and proceeds west on MLK to Main Street, then turns north to conclude at Heritage Square Park downtown.
Limited closures of some streets are planned during the march.
A celebration program begins at 10 a.m. in the park.
Organizers said the parade commemorates the vision and leadership of Baptist minister King, a leading U.S. advocate for equal rights beginning in 1955 until he was felled by an assassin’s bullet in 1968.
He stressed nonviolent civil resistance to racism and prejudice.
The Rev. Anthony Watson of The First Baptist Church started the annual Taylor tradition in 2006.
He was inspired by the MLK Day March conducted for nearly 50 years in San Antonio, one of the largest in the country.
“As pastor of The First Baptist Church in Taylor, Texas, why are my members and myself having to drive somewhere else to commemorate Dr. King?” Watson said in a previous interview.
Monday, Jan. 19, is also a federal holiday with many banks, schools and government offices closed.
