Scenes from the 2019 MLK Jr. Day Parade in Downtown Merced.
Scenes from the 2019 MLK Jr. Day Parade in Downtown Merced.
Scenes from the 2019 MLK Jr. Day Parade in Downtown Merced.
Scenes from the 2019 MLK Jr. Day Parade in Downtown Merced.
Scenes from the 2019 MLK Jr. Day Parade in Downtown Merced.
On July 27, 2017, U.S. Representative Maxine Waters spoke the words “Reclaiming My Time” in response to an attempt to lessen her voice through running out the clock at a House of Representatives Financial Service Committee meeting.
That statement created a cottage industry of men and women, but most particularly women demanding to be heard on issues of racism, gender inequality, economic and social issues and the very foundation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s mission of demanding that equality and justice for all are the right of every human being.
With this in mind, and to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr., supporters in Merced are inviting residents to please join the 24th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace March on Monday, Jan. 20.
The March line-up begins at 10 a.m. at the Merced County Fairgrounds. At 11 a.m., the marchers will proceed to the Art Kamangar Center at the Merced Theatre, located at 301 W. Main St., in Merced. Inside the historic venue, a celebratory program will begin at noon.
Featured speakers will include UC Merced Professor Nigel Hatton and Pastor Robert Morris of Valley Harvest Church. The theme of this year’s celebration, “Reclaiming Our Time,” will be highlighted in their presentations. During the program, there will also be cultural entertainment expressed through song, dance and reenactments.
The past year has seen historical events from the Impeachment of President Trump to the record breaking number of women in the 116th Congress. It is the hope of this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration that those in attendance will come away recognizing the importance of their voice, time, and community.
In celebration and acknowledgement of Dr. Martin Luther King’s message that we can move beyond issues of race, violence, and prejudice towards equality for all.
Robert Morris
Of all Pastor Robert A. Morris’s career accolades, his love for Jesus Christ and his encounter and call to preach the gospel, answered in 1999, supersedes all other passions.
Pastor Morris is known throughout the community for his bold, inspiring, simplistic sermons that leave his audiences filled with the Holy Spirit and a take-home message to live by. He has dedicated his life to doing God’s will.
As the Founding Senior Pastor of Valley Harvest Church, he acknowledges his call to duty is “24 hours per day, 7 days per week.” He began his career at Merced County in 1996 as the EEO Diversity Coordinator and was promoted to Acting Director of Human Resources on January 5, 2004. After 18 months of dedicated and excellent service as the Acting Director, he was promoted to the office of Director of Human Resources for the County of Merced in June 2005. In 2012, Mr. Morris was appointed by the Merced County CEO as the Director of the Merced County Workforce Investment Board. He retired in December 2017 from Merced County after 22 years of employment.
Nigel De Juan Hatton
Nigel De Juan Hatton, an associate professor of literature and affiliate faculty in philosophy at the University of California, Merced, was born on Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi, and raised in South Carolina, Arizona, California, Virginia, the Philippines and Germany.
He received a B.A. in English from Virginia Tech, an MFA in Writing from the Jesuit University of San Francisco, an MA in Latin American Studies and MA in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, an MA in Modern Thought & Literature from Stanford University, and a dual Ph.D. in Modern Thought & Literature and The Humanities with a minor in Political Theory, also from Stanford.
MHe completed postdoctoral study at the Kierkegaard Centre for Research at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. He has been a visiting fellow at Human Rights Watch in New York City (2004), the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University (2012-13), the International Criminal Court in The Hague (2013), the American Academy in Rome (2013), the University of California Humanities Research Institute (2016), and the Kierkegaard Library at St. Olaf College (2016).