Cold temperatures meant the 29th annual Freedom March moved indoors to TheatreSquared. But that didn't inhibit the energy of participants. Rising from their theater seats, participants held signs high with words like “register and vote” and “jobs, freedom and justice" as the room sang together. The 50-minute event also included five guest speakers reading Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final speech, delivered on April 3, 1968, in Memphis.
Monday’s event at TheatreSquared and later-in-the-day gatherings on the University of Arkansas campus and at the Jones Center in Springdale were hosted by the Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Council.
The council also hosted its annual Recommitment Celebration on Saturday evening at the Fayetteville Public Library. That included scholarship presentations and community awards. A highlight was an on-stage conversation between Airic Hughes, a University of Arkansas history faculty member, and author, educator and reverend Michael Eric Dyson.