Fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, remembrances are being held across the country today.
In Springfield, the event, "Honoring Dr. King’s Legacy: MLK 50, The Golden Gathering, Where do we go from Here: Chaos or Community?” will start tonight at 5:45 and go until 9 at the Springfield Art Museum, 1111 E. Brookside Drive.
It’s being hosted by the NAACP Springfield Branch along with several other organizations.
Activities will explore how the American Civil Rights Movement and past activism based on justice and peace laid the groundwork for current grassroots efforts to achieve positive social change.
The event will begin with a community bell ringing at 6:01 p.m. Community members and institutions are encouraged to ring bells five times at one second intervals to commemorate Dr. King’s legacy since his death.
The event is free and open to the public. Organizers will collect donations of flashlights with batteries for hurricane relief for Puerto Rico.
