The bone-chilling cold on Monday prompted the city of Columbus to cancel its annual MLK Day march for the second year in a row, but that didn’t stop the city from celebrating the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to honor.
People took shelter from the cold Monday night at the Lincoln Theater in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood to hear music and speakers honoring King. It was the second of two major MLK Day events in the city Monday, with Donald Trump’s second inauguration as president looming large.
More: Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy: Columbus’ leaders commemorate Inauguration Day breakfast
“At a time when society clung to a culture of extreme hatred, King challenged us to think differently, do things differently, live differently. At a time when some people were telling him to wait or stop, he changed the trajectory of America,” said Columbus City Council Member Nancy Day-Achauer. “And yet there are people in our country today who are fueling the revival of a culture of extreme hatred.”
Hate is not welcome in Columbus, Day-Achauer said.
Pastor Michael A. Young, of City of Grace Church, will deliver the keynote address Monday evening at the Martin Luther King Jr. The City of Columbus Day 2025 Celebration at the Lincoln Theater in Columbus.
Columbus Council member Nick Bankston said he threw out his planned speech after Trump’s inauguration earlier Monday, which he said was painful to watch at times. Bankston said he kept thinking about the word “progress.”
Everyone knows this quote from King, Bankston said:
“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless efforts and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
But another quote from King about progress now resonates more with Bankston:
“All progress is precarious, and solving one problem brings us face to face with another.”
Bankston said: “Progress is a journey, not a destination, and while we may still be on a circuitous path, this does not mean we are going off the rails.”
Also in Columbus Monday: Opponents of Donald Trump protest in Columbus on Inauguration Day
Pastor Michael A. Young, of City of Grace Church, said during his keynote address Monday that “it is time for Dr. King to speak through us.”
“Unfortunately, we are seeing some of the same old ugly ideologies from our past reemerge under the mantra of ‘Make America Great Again,’” Young said. “The question is: great for who?”
Young asked whether the slogan used by Trump is about the time when America had slavery or about Jim Crow laws.
Kevin Hill, a ninth grader at Columbus Alternative High School, speaks Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. The City of Columbus Day 2025 Celebration at the Lincoln Theater in Columbus.
He also denounced the economic hardships Americans are facing.
“We live in the richest country in the world and yet I can drive down the High Street when it’s ten degrees outside and there are still homeless people on my doorstep,” Young said.
Young called on attendees to not just attend events like Monday’s, but to take action and speak out for a better America.
The event organized Monday by the Columbus Department of Neighborhoods also honored Ben Espy, 81, a former Ohio senator and Columbus City Council member who died earlier this month and who founded the MLK Day march in Columbus.
Before the closing number by the Ohio State University African American Voices Gospel Choir, part of King’s final speech was played. King gave the infamous speech, often called “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” on April 3, 1968, the day before he was assassinated on the balcony of a Memphis motel.
In it, King said: “We have some difficult days ahead of us. But it doesn’t matter to me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop.
“I just want to do God’s will. And He allowed me to go up the mountain. And I’ve looked at it. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will reach the promised land.”
Dance Elite Performance Academy will perform Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. The City of Columbus Day 2025 Celebration at the Lincoln Theater in Columbus
jlaird@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Speakers at Columbus’ MLK Day program slam Trump for spreading hate