Living the Legacy: Celebrating 10 Years of a Wilmington Tradition at the Annual MLK Jr. Peace March & Celebration
Wilmington, DE: West Side Grows Together in partnership with the Wilmington Peacekeepers, The Warehouse, Be Ready CDC, Delaware Art Museum, Delaware Nature Society, Guerilla Republik, 302 Guns Down, Delaware Humanities, United Neighbors, the law office of Dalton & Associates, Books & Bagels, and the City of Wilmington will host the 10th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Peace March & Celebration on Monday, February 21st, 2022 on the W 7th Street “United” Bridge, between Jackson and Adams Streets. The Peace March starts at 1pm and the Celebration starts at 2pm.
Due to safety concerns around the Omicron variant, the event will take place on a special day and time and will include the following activities:
Monday, February 21st, 2022
10am-12pm Poster-making at Books & Bagels, 1139 W 7th Street
12-4pm Marketplace at Books & Bagels, 1139 W 7th Street
12:30-1pm Peace March lineup at the West 7th Street Bridge over I-95, between Jackson & Adams Streets
1-2pm Peace March
2-4pm Celebration on the West 7th Street Bridge
Masks and social distancing are strongly encouraged. Attendees may go to www.westsidegrows.org/mlkday for event details and to RSVP.
The event theme this year is “Celebrate the MLKing in You: Living the Legacy.” Ten years ago, the Wilmington Peacekeepers partnered with West Side Grows Together to add a community celebration to their MLK Jr. Peace March. In the years since, their legacy and partnership has developed into the multi-faceted iconic event that exists today: a peace march, community celebration, neighborhood clean-up, free meal, local art demonstrations, youth activities, resources, and music/dance performances. The organizing team intentionally changes the event’s location and route each year to highlight different parts of the city and the people that care and fight for better outcomes for it. The event will be centered on the West 7th Street Bridge, the location of the first United Neighbors community-painted mural across I-95.
Attendees will have the opportunity to join their neighbors in both advocacy and togetherness during the celebration where local artists such as GhettoSongBird, Young Seda, Jahiti, Jea Street, Jr., Seylin Abarca, The Underground Kids, Dynamic Divas, and young emerging talent from the Teen Warehouse will be performing. Additionally, they will be able to get to speak with local advocacy groups, and connect with community resources and services where they can extend what is traditionally a “day of service” into year-round engagement. Be Ready CDC and Redbird Art Lab will also be hosting free family-friendly arts and crafts to engage the younger crowd.
A free community meal will be available during the celebration from The Stand and Free Food for All, along with a take-home food box giveaway courtesy of Epiphany Church Wilmington.
Attendees will also be able to support small businesses and shop local with over a dozen independently-owned small businesses at two locations between Books & Bagels and the 7th Street Bridge.
To celebrate the 10 year anniversary, Advocate Media produced videos that honors the history of the event and recognizes the partners and community leaders that have made this event possible over the years. Visit www.westsidegrows.org/mlkday to view the video series.
This program is partially funded by a grant from the Delaware Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Photo by Brandon Bolinski, Bolinski Media
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West Side Grows Together is a coalition of residents, businesses, churches, and local leadership in the West Side of Wilmington, Delaware, working together to transform & strengthen their community. Follow West Side Grows Together on the Web, Facebook & Instagram for more information and program updates.