Lift Every Voice Legacy (LEVL) will be hosting its seventh annual Tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – Inspiring a Beloved Community in Song, Artistic Expression and Dance for Children and Families from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at the Edmonds Waterfront Center. The evening program will not be held this year. 

The free morning event is produced in partnership with the Edmonds Waterfront Center, with major funding from the Hazel Miller Foundation. 

“Our theme this year, ‘I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,’ is taken from Rev. Dr. King’s last speech on April 3, 1968, a day before he was assassinated in Memphis on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel,” said Donnie Griffin, founder and president of Lift Every Voice Legacy. “He offered words of hope, encouragement, and inspired bravery to striking sanitation workers who were underpaid, overworked, and racially marginalized. In building a ‘Beloved Community’ free of hatred, injustice and poverty, Rev. Dr. King’s vision lives with us today, as does the work we must do to make the dream a reality today and for generations to come.” 

Noting that hundreds of people attended the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. morning tribute at the Edmonds Waterfront Center last year, Griffin invites all to celebrate King’s vision of a Beloved Community with family friendly events that include dancing, games, children’s book readings, youth performances, and arts and crafts.

“Community is built when we learn and play together,” Griffin said. “Whether it’s the children’s book reading station, family ballet lessons, individual and group performances on the main stage, arts and crafts including pottery making, or creating quick and easy homemade snacks, we have found the formula for creating space that fosters belonging, cultural pluralism and caring communities among our neighbors. This is what we do on the day we commemorate Rev. Dr. King’s birthday.”

The mission of LEVL is to inspire, embrace and develop models of a Beloved Community that promote grassroots community involvement centered on love and social and economic justice. According to the event announcement, LEVL aims “to create common gathering spaces to reach a caring community of culturally diverse people in the South Snohomish-North King Counties who would be encouraged and motivated by the legacy of Dr. King’s life. “

Learn more about LEVL here.