Boston and surrounding communities will commemorate Martin Luther King Day on Monday with events ranging from concerts and community service to discussions of bias and civil discourse.
Governor Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, and US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey are slated to attend an annual breakfast honoring the slain civil rights leader at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Callie Crossley, a WGBH television and radio host, is the keynote speaker at the 8 a.m. event.
Boston University, of which King was an alumnus, will commemorate his life with a 2 p.m. event featuring sacred music by Duke Ellington. It will be performed at Metcalf Hall by BU’s Big Band and the Inner Strength Gospel Choir with conductor, composer, and scholar Randall Keith Horton.
Brookline officials are expected to discuss steps the town is taking to confront bias locally as part of a public celebration of King’s life at Coolidge Corner Theatre. Participating in the panel discussion will be police chief Daniel O’Leary, school superintendent Andrew Bott, and Rahsaan Hall, director of the racial justice program for the ACLU of Massachusetts. The 3 p.m. event comes as the town is facing lawsuits from two police officers and a former firefighter who allege that they faced discrimination on the job.
In Newton, a 9:30 a.m. celebration will take place at Temple Beth Avodah, where Mayor Setti Warren will ask members of the community to sign on to the One Newton pledge to demonstrate a commitment to civil discourse. The mission of One Newton is to build a welcoming and inclusive city for all.
The former longtime director of the Metco program, which enrolls minority Boston students in predominantly white suburban schools, will be the keynote speaker at Cohasset’s 15th annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast. Jean McGuire led Metco from 1973 to the end of 2016. The event will take place at 9 a.m. at St. Anthony’s Parish Center.
Volunteers will fan out across Lynn — serving meals at a local soup kitchen, visiting nursing homes, and collecting food donations — when the Lynn Community Coalition holds its annual observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome — they should arrive at the Washington Street Baptist Church between 9 and 9:30 a.m. for assignment.
Material from the State House News Service was used in this report. Leslie Anderson can be reached at leslie.anderson@globe.com.
