Remember! Celebrate! Act!
Hands On Atlanta to Host 15th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Summit

ATLANTA, GA (Jan. 5, 2008) – Hands On Atlanta, The King Center and presenting sponsor Delta Air Lines will host the 15th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Summit to celebrate the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. The Service Summit takes place Monday, Jan. 14 through Monday, Jan. 21, 2008 at locations in the King Historic District and throughout metro Atlanta. Nearly all events are free and open to the public. 

   The Service Summit events include a film series, a literary series, conversations about current societal challenges, a Youth Summit and family programming. Kicking off the 2008 season, Maria Shriver will introduce American Idealist—a new documentary chronicling the accomplishments of her father, R. Sargent Shriver, who started several programs during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, including Peace Corps and Head Start. The event is Monday, Jan. 14 at The King Center’s Freedom Hall. A VIP Reception with Ms. Shriver begins at 6 p.m., followed by the film screening at 7 p.m., then a panel discussion at the conclusion of the film.

   A star-studded Atlanta film premier of Honeydripper, a new John Sayles film about the blues and the birth of rock and roll against the backdrop of a Jim Crow society in the 1950s, will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 16. The red carpet ticketed event takes place at the Rich Auditorium at the Woodruff Arts Center. Tickets are $50 per person and may be obtained by calling 404-979-2800. 

   A traditional freedom rally featuring keynote speaker Hill Harper—activist, author and star of the CBS hit series, CSI:NY, will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 at Big Bethel African American Methodist Episcopal Church.

   The Summit’s Citizen Cinema Film Series will present a dozen documentary films, including two by award-winning filmmaker Marco Williams. The first, MLK Boulevard: The Concrete Dream (screening Sunday, Jan. 20, 3 p.m. at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History) in which Williams takes a look at the lives lived along the more than 680 streets and boulevards named after slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. The second, Banished: An Investigation into Ethnic Cleansing in Post-reconstruction America (screening Saturday, Jan. 21, 2 p.m. at the National Park Service Screening Room, MLK Historic District) in which Williams visits some of the whitest counties around the nation to confront institutional racism. Williams will be present for discussions following both film screenings.

   The Service Summit Literary Series: Freedom Riders to Freedom Writers features writers that use their craft as a tool for social change, including Henry Louis Gates, director of Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research, who will discuss his recent anthology, America Behind the Color Line: Dialogues with African Americans and the Future of Race. Author Ralph “Cheo” Thurmon and former Atlanta First Lady (and host of NPR’s Between the Lines) Valerie Jackson will host the Literary Series events. Press release with further details will be distributed.
The Ideas and Conversations Series features workshops and conversations with nationally renowned panelists discussing such contemporary topics as the Jena 6, faith and social justice, technology as a tool for social change, and the impact of the BeltLine project in Atlanta.

   Several exciting community partner events will also take place over the King Holiday weekend, including “A Song for Coretta,” a new play by Pearl Cleage at the Seven Stages Theater in Little Five Points, and “Courage: The Vision to End Segregation, the Guts to Fight For It,” an exhibition at The Atlanta History Center. 

   A full list of events may be found on www.HandsOnAtlanta.org.
On Jan. 21, the anniversary of Dr. King’s birthday, Hands On Atlanta volunteers will celebrate the Federal King Holiday with a Day of Service. An anticipated 4,500 volunteers will take part in service project opportunities throughout the metro Atlanta region, making the holiday “A day ON! Not A Day OFF!” and transforming Dr. King’s message of social activism into a reality. Interested volunteers may register by visiting www.HandsOnAtlanta.org or calling 404-979-2800.

   For more information about the Hands On Atlanta Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Summit, please visit www.HandsOnAtlanta.org or call 404-979-2808.