Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day immersed in art, culture, and community, and commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Enjoy an array of vibrant programs and activities for all ages. Bring your children for art workshops and food, visit our exhibitions, and hear recitations of King’s speeches about keeping the spirit of democracy alive. Free for everyone! 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. - King Study Group Listen to a recording of King’s speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” delivered at Riverside Church in New York on April 4, 1967, and discuss his life and legacy. 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. - Rock the Vote! Learn how you can become more civically engaged in this important election and census year from the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and Census 2020, and register to vote. 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. - Family Drop-in Art Activities Voting Booth: Stamp your vote for your favorite historical African American icon and submit it to our children’s voting box. Peace Medal: In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent campaign against racism. Honor his ideals by designing an MLK peace medal of your own. Words of Wisdom Bookmark: Many of King’s wise sayings still resonate with us today. Choose an MLK quote that has deep meaning for you, and create a bookmark to treasure as you read some of the many books written by and about MLK. Pick up a list of these books when you finish your bookmark. Chains of Kindness Come together with fellow participants to make a chain of kindness. Write a kind thought on a link and see the chain grow throughout the day in the same spirit of collaboration that MLK encouraged. 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. - Vote or Perish: Fighting for Civil Rights in an Election Year In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. led civil rights demonstrations that brought renewed attention to the issue of voting rights. Fifty-five years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson with King at his side, an important question remains: how vital is voting to ensure the future of our democracy? Hear from radio and television journalist Tony Cox; Isaac Bryan, Director of Public Policy at the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies; Paul Von Blum, Senior Lecturer in African American Studies and Communication Studies at UCLA; and Gwendolyn Alexis, United States history lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and co-founder of the Anaheim Democratic Club about the history of voting in America and how to employ your civil rights today to sustain the momentum of the Voting Rights Act going into November’s elections. 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. - Keynote by Lorrie Frasure: African American Voters, Mobilization, and Empowerment Hear from Lorrie Frasure, associate professor of political science and African American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, about the history of African American voting behavior and how to empower our communities this election year and into the future. 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. - Youth Speeches: “Give Us the Ballot” by Martin Luther King Jr. School-aged youth present excerpts of King’s 1957 speech “Give Us the Ballot,” in which he advocated voting rights for African Americans in the United States. 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. - ICYOLA performance The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles presents a musical tribute to MLK and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.