Themed, “Uniting Citizens Through Diversity and Inclusion” the Fayette County Branch of the NAACP in partnership with the Fayette County Board of Education will present the 14th annual parade and subsequent 14th annual commemorative program in celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Holiday on Monday, January 20, 2014.
The keynote speaker is Carolyn Maull McKinstry. Carolyn is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. She was present on September 15, 1963 at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, when white racists bombed the Church. Carolyn’s four young friends were killed. As a teenager, Carolyn felt her “calling” by attending the mass meetings and rallies at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. She was among thousands of students hosed by firemen during the 1963 marches. She survived a second bomb explosion that destroyed a large portion of her home in 1964.
An “authentic child of the movement”, Carolyn believes that God spared her life on September 15th, 1963, so that she could continue to live in service to others. She is now a citizen of the world, and an ordained itinerant messenger of the gospel.
Carolyn was educated in the public schools of Birmingham. She is a graduate of Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, has done graduate studies at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and received a Master of Divinity Degree from Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School. She is currently an associate minister at Trinity Baptist Church. She has held management positions with Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company, Andersen Consulting and is a retiree of BellSouth Telecommunications. Carolyn has recently authored a book (memoir) entitled “While The World Watched.” The book will be available for sale at the program.
The Fayette County Branch invites the community; churches, fraternities, sororities, organizations and businesses to participate in the parade and program. Parade participants can secure a Parade Entry Form or register online by accessing the branch’s website, www.fcnaacp.org.
Pre-parade breakfast items will be available for a nominal fee from 8:45-10 a.m. in the Fayette County High School Parking Lot and the LaFayette Education Bldg D . The parade will start from the Fayette County High School parking lot at 10 a.m. and subsequent commemorative program will begin at 11:45 am in F. A. Sams Auditorium, 205 LaFayette Drive, Fayetteville. Post program events are tentatively scheduled and will be announced on the day of the event.
Parade route: Starting point is Fayette County High School parking lot. Exit parking lot left onto Tiger Trail to right on Hood Avenue to right on Highway 85. Proceed south on Highway 85 to right on Highway 54 until reaching Tiger Trail. Turn right onto Tiger Trail and parade ends at parking lot of Fayette County High School.
All third graders and middle school students in the Fayette County School System are invited to be the NAACP’s special guests and the NAACP will recognize particular high school seniors who have achieved academic success from each of their five respective county high schools. The NAACP will also recognize those athletic teams that have accomplished major feats and essay winners from elementary and middle schools.
