Andrew Young, other leaders will honor Martin Luther King Jr. in and near Modesto

Civil rights veteran Andrew Young will speak in Modesto next month as part of celebrations in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

They will start Friday, two days before what would have been King’s 87th birthday, with a luncheon at the King-Kennedy Memorial Center. Other observances will follow in Sonora, Modesto and Merced.

King died in 1968 at 39, assassinated in Memphis amid his struggle against racial inequality and poverty. The national holiday in his name is Monday, Jan. 16, this year.

Details were not available on the annual service at Christian Love Baptist Church in Modesto. Highlights of the other events:

Friday, Modesto: The 24th annual Martin Luther King Luncheon will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at King-Kennedy, 601 Martin Luther King Drive. The guest speaker will be Daryn Kumar, chief executive officer at Memorial Medical Center. The program also features music and other activities. Tickets are $20. For more information, call 209-568-3096.

Sunday, Sonora: Anti-violence activist Mimi Kim will speak at the 22nd annual celebration for the Motherlode Martin Luther King Jr. Committee. She is an assistant professor at California State University, Long Beach, and has written and spoken about “transformative justice.” The talk will be at 2 p.m. in the Sonora High School auditorium, 430 N. Washington St. Admission is free. More information is at www.motherlodemlk.org.

Monday, Jan. 16, Merced: The annual parade will begin at 11 a.m. near the Amtrak station, 324 W. 24th St., and run along Martin Luther King Way to the Merced County Fairgrounds. Participants will celebrate there with games, live entertainment, vendors and food until 2 p.m. Admission is free. Call 209-722-7231.

Feb. 4, Modesto: Young, a former Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador, will speak at Modesto Junior College as part of its 23rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration. He was ordained as a minister in 1955 and went on to work with King on voting rights and related causes.

The event will be at the Performing Arts and Media Center Auditorium, 435 College Ave., on the East Campus. Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the program will start at 7 p.m. Students are invited to an informal discussion with Young at 6 p.m. in the nearby Little Theatre.

Admission is free, but sponsorships are welcome to help with the cost. For more information, contact Jim Costello at jcostello@igc.org or 209-402-9191, or Dan Onorato at onoratod@att.net or 209-526-5436.

This story was originally published January 8, 2017 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Andrew Young, other leaders will honor Martin Luther King Jr. in and near Modesto."