ATLANTA — The King Center in Atlanta kicked off a slate of Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday events on Thursday.
Channel 2’s Steve Gehlbach was at the King Center’s Yolanda D. King Theatre where the Center started things off for an 11-day run of events to celebrate the legacy of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
2026 marks the 40th celebration of MLK Day, the first was observed on Jan. 20, 1986.
The events for the 2026 celebration in Atlanta started Thursday and will continue through the federal holiday on Jan. 19.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Former Buford High football star dies at 30 by same affliction that killed his younger brother
- Family says car dealership took advantage of elderly man with dementia; business says it’s resolved
- Judge orders cars, money, guns must be returned to Young Thug by Friday following case dismissal
“This King Holiday let’s not simply honor my father’s memory, let us continue his mission,” Dr. Bernice King, the civil rights leader’s daughter and King Center CEO, said.
To start the event, King spoke about the theme for the year, a continuation of the 2025 theme of “Mission Possible.”
This year’s continued theme is “Mission Possible 2: Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Non-Violent Way.”
“And I say to you today with the full weight of my father’s and mother’s legacy that ‘mission possible’ is a lifeline is not optional. It is mandatory,” King said.
The King Center CEO touched on her father’s legacy of non-violence while referencing the recent shooting death of a woman in Minnesota and the protests in response.
“It reminds us that when policies are driven by force and fear, human dignity is always the first casualty,” King said. “This is why the work of the King Center and our King Holiday programs matter deeply now.”
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
