UVA Wise Celebrates 28th Annual MLK Jr. Remembrance March

On Monday, January 15, the 28th annual MLK Jr. March and Remembrance program sponsored by UVA Wise celebrates the theme, “it starts with you.”

“It’s our duty to remember the history both the terrible things done out of hate and the significant achievements made in civil rights for all. Today, we have a long way to go but we need to continue to make the world a better place for us now and in the future. We need to be good to one another, be each other’s protector and helper and it all starts with each of us. It starts with you,” Debbie Vanover, chair of UVA Wise’s Black History Month Committee which organizes the annual event.

On Monday, January 15, the remembrance program, presented by both UVA Wise’s Black History Month Committee and the Town of Wise, celebrates the legacy of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1983, the U.S. government designated the third Monday of January as a federal holiday honoring King’s birthday on Jan. 15.

This year’s long-standing annual celebration kicks off with a free community dinner at 5:30 p.m. at the Wise Baptist Church. 

Regardless of the weather, the candlelight march will commence at 6:30 p.m. at Wise Baptist Church and end at Wise Trinity United Methodist Church, where the program will begin at 7 p.m.

Reverend Thomas Sweatt who spoke at the first UVA Wise MLK Jr. March and Remembrance 28 years ago will speak at this year’s program. 

A Lynch, Ky. native, Sweatt earned his bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from the University of Kentucky, served in the US Army and worked as a coal miner for nearly 20 years.

He then joined the ministry in the 1980s. Sweatt served as a pastor in East Tennessee and Virginia churches for more than a decade. Currently, Sweatt serves as pastor of the Saint James AMEZ in Allentown, Pa.

Several musical groups will perform including 4Him, Greater Mt. Sinai Gospel Singers, UVA Wise   Peter Ryan, and The Wise Guys.