Thursday, October 1, 2026
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is recognized across the country as an opportunity to honor the work of civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The City of Long Beach acknowledged the day, Jan. 19, as the Martin Luther King Community Center hosted its annual MLK commemorative march.
The march began at 11:30 a.m., at the intersection of Laurelton Boulevard and West Park Avenue. Participants walked nearly one mile until reaching the MLK Center on Riverside Boulevard. For safety, eastbound traffic on West Park Avenue was stopped for roughly one hour.
Immediately following the march, the center hosted a ceremony featuring singers, praise dancing, and speakers, including a keynote speech from Rev. Ronald McHenry, a minister from the Evangel Revival Community Church. The MLK Community Center is a longtime hub supporting children and adults with educational resources, activities, and programs. The center has always taken a lead role, year-round, in remembering its namesake through intentions as well as actions.
D’Andre Cohen, committee leader for MLK Day 2026 at the MLK Center, explained how they honor King’s groundbreaking civil rights work. “By bringing together people of all backgrounds to work collaboratively and peacefully,” Cohen shared, “we strive to transform division into understanding, injustice into opportunity and hope into action.”
The national theme for this year’s MLK Day was “Mission Possible 2: Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Nonviolent Way.” It is a direct extension of the 2025 theme: “Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence 365.” Each year, The King Center chooses a theme for the annual celebration highlighting a core principle of King’s civil rights activism and community work.
Ms. Coretta Scott King founded The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, more commonly referred to as The King Center, in June 1968, less than three months after the assassination of her husband. In 2012, Bernice King, the youngest of King’s four children, took over as CEO of The King Center. Her older brother, Martin Luther King III, serves as president.
In a press release from The King Center, Bernice King spoke of the relevance of this year’s theme. “There is not a more urgent bell we must answer,” King wrote, “than the one signaling that it is indeed beyond time for us to realize our interconnectedness in what my father called the ‘World House,’ and to learn to live together well.”
King is the only individual to be celebrated with a federal holiday without serving as president of the United States. The day of honor, activity, and remembrance is recognized annually on the third Monday of January, a near approximation of his birthday, Jan. 15. This year’s commemoration marked what would’ve been King’s 97th birthday.
