Mat-Su Martin Luther King Jr., Foundation to host virtual event for MLK Day

MAT-SU — On Monday, the United States will collectively stop and reflect to celebrate and acknowledge the life and message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Millions of Americans across the United States will volunteer, choosing to reflect with service to their local communities. In the Mat-Su Valley, the Martin Luther King Jr., Foundation is hosting a virtual event on Monday that begins at 1 p.m., and will be streamed live on Zoom and Facebook.

“Each year we’re faced with different circumstances and unfortunately the last four years it’s been pretty much the same and at the tail end of last year to this year now, its just pretty much escalated and so we chose as a theme, instead of division we chose as a theme ‘United We Stand’ and we wanted to emphasize that all of us across the racial barrier, creed or color, we have to stand together to overcome anything that goes against our democracy, goes against the principles of social justice and so it’s just not one particular group it takes all of us to deal with it,” said Mat-Su MLK Foundation President Aundra Jackson. “By self policing that means that if you see an event or issues that deal with racism and you turn a blind eye then you actually become the problem. Self policing is basically addressing a problem head on and not just turning a blind eye to it.”

The Alaska Bar Association is offering free legal help to any Alaskan of low to moderate income in need of legal counsel. This is the 12th annual free legal aid event hosted by the Alaska Bar Association, the Alaska Court System and the Alaska Legal Services Corporation. Over 1,500 volunteer lawyers have provided more than 4,000 Alaskans with free legal help through 7,000 volunteer hours totaling nearly $1 million in volunteer assistance. Alaskans can call the phone-bank legal aid event which runs from noon to 4 p.m., at 844-263-1849.

“Typically we have it on site where we are having our physical celebration event but this year it’s going to be a statewide phone bank to where everybody within the Valley and within the state can participate and deal with various sections of the legal community,” said Jackson.

At the virtual celebration hosted by the Mat-Su MLK Foundation, Alaska State Troopers B Detachment Captain Tony April will provide the keynote speech. Democratic National Committee Black Caucus Chair Virgie Rollins will also present virtually at the event.

In June, 2020 Palmer High School Graduate Aurora Till applied for a permit from the city of Palmer to host a march of through the streets of Palmer in remembrance of those lost to racist police violence after the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Till’s permit was for 100 people and nearly 2,000 people from all over Southcentral Alaska to marched in peaceful protest against racism. Till will also speak at Monday’s virtual Martin Luther King Jr., Day event put on by the Mat-Su MLK Foundation.

At the start of 2020, Jackson, Wasilla city Councilman Simon Brown II and the rest of the members of the Mat-Su MLK foundation were working to provide scholarships to students and preparing to put on an “I Have a Dream” project at the Glenn Massay Theater on the Matanuska-Susitna College campus. The event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic but Jackson said that the project will be revived this year, even if it must take place virtually.

“We’re revamping up to try to bring other types of either drama events or social events. We would like to put on a health fairs to deal with youth and youth issues and also as well as adult issues but one of our main purposes is to bring awareness where we either support marches or we support groups that support social injustices and at this point now we’re in the revamping stage to plan for 2021 and what we are planning to do is actually in April is to bring another production which may be a virtual event to try to bridge build different communities out here with drama with music and with dramatic acts,” said Jackson.

After a particularly tumultuous 2020, Jackson calls on residents of the Valley to reflect on their community and combat injustice they see around them, as well as self policing implicit biases and unjust environments.

“I would bring the question to the Valley itself. If you’re not a minority and you happen to be any race, it can go across the spectrum, if you or anybody, I, your family, that’s witnessed any kind of injustice, would you want that same injustice to happen to you,” said Jackson. “If you are aware that there is some injustice going on in society and you acknowledge it by saying yes I do but you don’t do anything about it then you have to ask the question why would you want that to happen to somebody else.”