Community members throughout the Eastern Shore are invited to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and get a first look at a documentary featuring local students and community leaders from the region as they follow the civil rights journey through the American South.
On Monday, January 15, the Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast & Banquet will be held at several locations in Chestertown, starting with a reading at Fountain Park on High St., followed by a march to a community breakfast and banquet at Washington College. Community members are invited to join any or all parts of the morning’s offerings as the nation pays tribute to one of the most prominent leaders of the civil rights movement. Sponsored by Minary’s Dream Alliance, the NAACP, Chester Valley Ministers Association, and Washington College’s Office of the President and Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, the events are open to the public. While the reading, march and banquet are offered free of charge, those wishing to partake in the breakfast must purchase a $20 ticket in advance. Proceeds from the breakfast support local non-profits providing emergency food and shelter to community members in need. Full event information and ticket access to the breakfast is available here: https://rb.gy/m73v64.
The schedule for the January 15th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast & Banquet is as follows:
8:30 a.m. – Reading and March at Fountain Park, Chestertown, MD
9:00 a.m. – Breakfast at Hodson Hall Dining Hall, Washington College
10:00 a.m. – Free Banquet at Decker Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts, Washington College
*Inclement Weather Date: January 20, 2024
On Saturday, January 20, the public is invited to a special Red Carpet Premiere of the “Get On The Bus” documentary, which follows local K-12 students, community members, and Washington College students and alumni as they journey together in an envoy to deliver historic materials from Chestertown, Maryland, to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, where they will be permanently housed. Along the way, participants visited the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, walked over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Montgomery, and toured Dr. Martin Luther King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to get a firsthand experience of what civil rights activists endured in their fight for equality. Capturing the group’s daily reflections and conversations, the documentary reveals a community working together to develop both a deeper understanding of the past and a collective response to present day racial injustices. Sponsored by Minary’s Dream Alliance, Sumner Hall, and Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, the screening and subsequent Q&A panel with K-12 trip participants is free and open to the public.
“We are very excited to partner with Washington College to celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King and the history of civil rights more broadly,” said Paul Tue, co-founder of Minary’s Dream Alliance. “The College is not only standing behind us—they are standing beside us as a partner to bring together these important conversations.”
The film, presented by Andover Media, has recently been accepted to be part of the Ocean City Film Festival, taking place later this spring.
The “Get On The Bus” premiere will take place on January 20 at 3:30 p.m. in the Decker Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts at Washington College in Chestertown. Light appetizers and refreshments will be available to all who join.
More info is available here:
To see a trailer of the documentary, please go here.
