Houston’s Two MLK Parades Join Forces for Historic Unity Celebration on Jan. 19
MLK Day in Houston will be celebrated with a unified parade, along with several other events scheduled around the city. Here are all the details.
Beginning in 1995, the city of Houston has held two different parades on MLK Day. This year, though, one unified parade will take place. The MLK Grande Parade and the Black Heritage Society have worked together, alongside Mayor John Whitmire and the City of Houston, to plan the first-ever MLK Unity Parade, set to take place on Monday, January 19. The event will honor the legacy, life, and accomplishments of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.
Mayor Whitmire spoke about the unified parade on Wednesday during a city council meeting. He said, “When I got elected — I found out San Antonio has a larger parade than Houston and I said, ‘Well, we can’t do that.’ And my advisors — that have been in the city longer than me — said, ‘Don’t go there, mayor, don’t go there.’ For over 40 years, we’ve had two parades for the same purpose, and in my judgment, it was not the best way to honor Dr. King. It was stretching resources.”
The MLK Unity Parade is scheduled to begin at the intersection of Lamar and Smith streets downtown at 10 a.m. From there, it will travel down Smith Street and take a right onto Walker Street before turning right again onto Milam Street. The route then continues on Pease and Louisiana Streets before eventually turning down Clay Street and then back onto Smith Street to reach its endpoint at the intersection of Dallas and Smith Streets. A map of the complete route can be found here.
A 9 a.m. reception will be held before the parade’s start time. Three grand marshals will preside over the event, including MLK Grande Parade CEO and Chairman Charles Stamps, Mayor Whitmire, and Madd Hatta from KMJQ.
Other ways to celebrate MLK Day in Houston
Additional events will take place across the city to honor the memory of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., including the MLK Jr. Vigil held at Rice University on Sunday, January 18. This free event, which is hosted by the Rice Black Men’s Association and Multicultural Community Relations, starts with a 5:30 p.m. reception. A full program then begins a half hour later at 6 p.m. in Room 130 in Kraft Hall. Event details are listed on the Rice University website.
For a family-friendly celebration, there’s the MLK Day Celebration held at the Children’s Museum on Monday, January 19. Tickets can be reserved in advance using this link. The event runs from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and features live music, a Peace March, interactive performances, themed crafts, and a special storytime. More information can be found here.
January 19 is also the MLK Day of Service. To participate in a community service project in Houston, including opportunities to paint community spaces, organize meal services, clean up trails, organize donations, and more, the Greater Houston YMCAs have a full list of available options here.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
