Civil rights leader John Lewis will speak in Modesto

MODESTO -- U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who marched alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will speak Saturday at Modesto Junior College’s annual celebration of the slain civil rights leader.

The evening will include inspirational music and the presentation of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award.

Lewis, of Georgia, was dubbed one of the “big six leaders” in the civil rights movement and served as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during some of its most productive years in the mid-1960s.

He helped plan the March on Washington in August 1963 and spoke at the event, where King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Saturday’s free community event will be at 7 p.m. in the Mary Stuart Rogers Student Learning Center on the MJC West Campus, 2201 Blue Gum Ave.

The public is invited to a meet-and-greet reception for Lewis from 5 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the King- Kennedy Memorial Center, 601 S. Martin Luther King Drive.