The citizens of Champaign County and members of the University community are invited to come together and honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 12th annual county wide celebration of the civil rights leader’s life and legacy Friday afternoon.

“Having the Courage to Overcome the Mountain,” planned by a committee of representatives from the University, Parkland College, Urbana, Champaign and Champaign County, will be held from 4-5 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1501 S. Neil St., Champaign.

Champaign City Council member Will Kyles, District 1, said he hopes the celebration will lead to a “call for action” within the community. 

“Inequality still exists, and ‘Overcoming the Mountain’ may not necessarily be a racial issue, but maybe something in our own life,” Kyles said. “I hope people will have a call to action to do something positive.”

He said he also hopes members of the University attend in order to “bridge the gap” between the University community and the public community in the Champaign County, and encourage students to stay in the community after they graduate.

“It’s an opportunity to breach two worlds,” Kyles said. “I want a student to feel like they’re more than somebody who pays tribute to our businesses … there’s a lot of opportunities for collaboration.”

Ernest Green, one of the “Little Rock Nine” — the black students who were first to attend Little Rock Central High School in 1957 after the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education — will be the keynote speaker for the event. He, along with the other eight of the Little Rock Nine, was a recipient of the 1999 U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and the first African-American graduate of Little Rock Central High School in 1958. 

Jason Hood, community relations specialist for the City of Champaign, said the event’s committee sought a keynote speaker with a “compelling story of encouragement.”

“(A visitor) can expect to learn more about the iconic role Ernest Green played in the desegregation of schools, the experience of growing up in the Jim Crow era, the lessons he has learned and insights on overcoming adversities,” he said.

There will also be a musical performance by Mo’ Betta Music, a multi-genre music initiative through the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center at the University, and entertainment from vocalist Barrington Coleman, an associate professor of music at the University.

Otis Noble III, senior campus and community affairs specialist in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, is one of the University representatives on the planning committee. Like Kyles, he said he believes it is important that students know they are a “vital part of this conversation” and hopes there will be a large student presence at the event.

“A lot of this progression that we’re talking about in remembering Dr. King is about the future,” Noble said. “Students here are a part of that leading group that’s really going to be able to change the community and the area that we live in.”

Emma can be reached at [email protected].