31st annual Southfield MLK Peace Walk set for Jan. 18

The city of Southfield and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force will host the 31^st annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Peace Walk Celebration on Monday, January 18 beginning at 9 a.m. at Hope United Methodist Church, 26275 Northwestern Highway.
The peace walk will depart from Hope United at 9:30 a.m., followed by an 11 a.m. program at the Southfield Pavilion, located in the Southfield Municipal Complex, 26000 Evergreen Road. The program will include remarks from Mayor Kenson Siver, MLK Task Force founder Barbara Talley, current MLK Task Force President Patricia Haynie, and a keynote address by Dr. E. Faye Williams. Dr. Williams is an author, attorney, professor, peace and human rights activist, minister, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. among other notable positions. She is currently National President/CEO of the National Congress of Black Women and former Counsel to the U.S. Congress’ District of Columbia Sub-Committee on the Judiciary and Education.  Dr. Williams is a former Professor of International Law at Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, LA and she previously served as Legislative Counsel and Chief of Staff for a District of Columbia Councilmember.  She is also a former teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School and is an appointee by President Barack Obama to the Presidential Scholars Commission. Dr. Williams is the author of several books on political and foreign and is a prolific public speaker. She has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including BET, CBS, CNN, NPR, Good Morning America, the David Brinkley Show, the Canadian Broadcasting System, C-Span, MSNBC’s Hard Ball and others. She has appeared on WorldNet Television to discuss the role people of African descent play in elections and has addressed numerous peace and human rights groups in the U.S., Greece, Iraq, Haiti, Gabon, Senegal, Tunisia, Palestine, Israel, Benin and other nations.  Dr. Williams was also a delegate to the Reconciliation Conference in Benin, West Africa, and the StraightTalk Economic Empowerment Conference in South Africa.
The event will also feature the Presentation of Colors by the Buffalo Soldiers, Tuskegee Airmen and Southfield Police & Fire Departments; performances by U of M’s Arabesque Dance Troupe, 58 Greene, and Amala Dancers as well as Wyoming Church Acapella Choir, SGI-USA Korean Drum Group, and Southfield Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Lynda Wood. The program will conclude with the presentation of the 2015 MLK Community Service Award, the MLK Peace Pledge and the ringing of the Liberty Bell.
Southfield was the first city in the state of Michigan to hold a Dr. King peace walk or march. The first Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Walk took place on January 20, 1986, commemorating the first national observance of Dr. King’s birthday. The walk continues to grow in size and scope each year, with year-long educational and community outreach activities.
For more information, call the MLK Task Force hotline at (248) 924-9MLK or visitwww.mlktaskforcemi.org.