The Roanoke Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) will host its 22nd annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet at 5pm Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. The event will be held at the Holiday Inn (Valley), 3315 Ordway Drive, NW.
Banquet speaker will be Retired US Army Brigadier General Jeffrey G. Smith, Jr., currently dean of faculty and deputy superintendent of academics at Virginia Military Institute (VMI).
He also serves on the Advisory Board to the Army Cyber Institute at West Point. Gen. Smith’s military career spans over 33 years serving as both V Corps G-6 and Commander of the 22nd Signal Brigade during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He holds dual Bachelor degrees in Biology and English from MVI, a doctorate in English Literature from Princeton University and a Masters degree in National Security from the National War College. His military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, (2) Distinguished Service Medals, (2) Bronze Stars and (3) Legion of Merit.
Special recognition will also be given to Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a hero who sacrificed his life saving 17-year-old fellow civil rights activist Ms. Ruby Sales by shielding her from shotgun-wielding Tom Coleman who at the time was a construction worker and special county deputy. Daniels was an Episcopal Seminarian and civil rights activist who was assassinated on August 20, 1965 in Haynesville, Alabama while he and Ms. Sales were registering voters and working to integrate public places in the Civil Rights Movement in Lowndes County.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major for Justice award honorees: are Bill Bestpitch, Daniel Callaghan, Jonathan M. Daniels, Pamela Edwards, Katherine Elam, Robert Jeffries, Elizabeth Lawrence, Eva Miller, Francine McLaughlin, Andre’ Peery, Donna Williams and Rev. Amy Ziglar.
The Rev. Dr. MLK, Jr. Community Service Award honorees: AARP; Travell Eiland, Neesey Payne, Grover Price, and Dorothy Owsley.
The Dr. Perneller Chub-Wilson Justice Award honoree is Kameron Melton.
As the Roanoke Chapter SCLC continues the vision of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., please come join this year’s celebration! Tickets are $50 per person
For additional information please call 540-344-7064.
