The City of Jonesboro is hosting today’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade downtown. Temperatures are forecasted to be in the 50s and the weather should be mostly sunny. Feel free to bring a lawn chair and a blanket.
Participants will line up at Government Circle next to Clayton County Police Headquarters at 10 a.m.
The parade will travel from Government Circle south on North McDonough Street, cross the railroad tracks at the fork onto Main Street, proceed south on Main Street, turn right on Mill Street, then disband at the West Mill Street Parking Lot across from Nouveau Bar and Grill.
The parade commemorates the birthday of the world-famous civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39.
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King’s larger influence is felt worldwide but his roots just north and south of Jonesboro point to influences on his own life and on the lives of those who came after him.
King was pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta, where U.S. Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock is pastor.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to address the annual memorial service.
King’s father came from Stockbridge in Henry County and preached his first sermon there at Floyd Chapel Baptist Church.
Check back for highlights from the parade later today.
