Only one other time, in 1997, has Inauguration Day fallen on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In acknowledgement, President Bill Clinton, in his second inaugural address, paid tribute to King's legacy by calling on Americans of all races, cultures, religions, and backgrounds to heal divisions and to become one community, as White House archives recall . Clinton proclaimed a "National Day of Hope and Renewal."
What President-elect Donald Trump may proclaim or say on Monday in his own historic address to ensure that the day’s holiday and Inauguration Day can coexist, without overshadowing each other, isn’t known.
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Regardless, here in Duluth, both moments of importance and significance can be celebrated. Each can be given due and appropriate honor.
Whether a supporter of Trump or not, Americans can agree we all need the new president to succeed, his accomplishments a benefit to our nation, its standing in the world, and to our everyday lives. That can begin on Monday with the inaugural swearing-in, review of military troops, parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, inaugural balls, and more, all beginning at 11 a.m. Duluth time — and all easy to follow online or on TV. Trump will be the first U.S. president since Grover Cleveland in 1893 to begin a second non-consecutive term.
At the same time as the inauguration, here in Duluth, Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities will be wrapping up, our annual chance to focus on the legacy of our nation's greatest-ever civil-rights leader and his demand, still ongoing, for equal rights for all.
MLK Day events in Duluth begin with a community worship service Sunday at 4 p.m. at Peace United Church of Christ, 1111 N. 11th Ave. E. According to the Duluth NAACP , “This service will be a modern-day expression of the Black Church tradition that nurtured” King. The Rev. Angela Barnes of Duluth’s St. Mark AME will be the featured preacher, with music from Clinton Strother and the Central Hillside Community Gospel Choir.
On Monday, there’ll be a community breakfast 7-9:30 a.m. at First United Methodist Church, 230 E. Skyline Parkway, with a local program and a viewing of a program from Minneapolis featuring journalist and author Michele Norris, music by Grammy-winning Sounds of Blackness , and a performance by the Threads Dance Project and Vocalessence . A freewill offering in Duluth will support the United Negro College Fund, which helps Minnesota students of African heritage go to college.
Duluth’s annual MLK Day march gathers at 10:30 a.m. Monday and then begins a half hour later from the Family Freedom Center, or Washington Center Gymnasium, on First Avenue West between Third Street and Fourth Street. Following the parade, Duluth’s annual MLK Day rally begins at noon at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Symphony Hall. There’ll be performances by Major Attraktion, "That's a Rap," Loc Da Realist, Cashmere Hagbourne, and Jamal King-Lunde. The featured speaker will be Rebeka Ndosi of Maji ya Chai Land Sanctuary , and excerpts will be read from from MLK Essay Contest winners.
January in Duluth isn’t always the easiest time to participate in Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities — and this year will be no exception, with high temperatures Monday expected to be dangerously cold and well below zero. Don’t be surprised if the parade moves into the downtown skywalks.
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In recognition of both MLK Day and the inauguration, Duluth’s Loaves and Fishes community is hosting “Coming Together for the Common Good” from 6-8 p.m. Monday at St. Paul Episcopal Church, 1710 E. Superior St. The gathering is to be “a call for community and a call to action,” as well as “an opportunity to explore how we can help create a more resilient, humane, and equitable world,” as organizers stated it.
No matter how you mark Monday, we can remember, as King urged, the demand for and the expectation of equal rights for all, a struggle still ongoing. In his words, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
We can also recall President Clinton’s call to heal divisions and to become one community. What better time for that than the start of a new presidential administration, especially one launching on a day already set aside for unity?
The Trust Project
