Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a state and federal holiday.
While government offices are closed and there will be no mail delivery, the Black Awareness Association of Juneau and St. Paul’s Catholic Church have organized a community celebration to commemorate the holiday.
The celebration begins at 1 p.m. in St. Paul’s Catholic Church and will feature a keynote address from Donna Walker, Alaska’s first lady. Sherry Patterson and Salissa Thole will perform music.
Also Monday, members of the Alaska Bar Association will provide free legal help to commemorate the holiday with social service.
Talk to a lawyer from 9 a.m. to noon at Alaska Legal Services in the Jordan Creek Center on Glacier Highway, or 1-4 p.m. in the Dimond Courthouse.
Speaking Thursday on KINY-AM, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott called today’s holiday one of the most important days of the year for him.
“It’s a civil rights movement that goes on and it affects everybody,” he said. “It affects every racial group, it affects every ethnicity, it affects how we live the values of our country, how we reach to those who still somehow believe that their voice isn’t heard. … It’s something I think about — and I don’t think this is a stretch — almost every day, how do we reach the least … amongst us.”
