MLK Jr. holiday celebrations are planned across the nation, but winter storm could limit some

ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) — Communities across the nation planned to celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday with events ranging from prayer services to parades, but a dangerously cold winter storm was limiting some planned activities.

President Joe Biden planned to spend the national holiday volunteering at Philabundance, a hunger relief organization in Philadelphia. This will be the third year in a row for the president to work with the charity on MLK Day, which is often celebrated by offering service to the community.

Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to be in South Carolina to give the keynote address for state NAACP’s “King Day at the Dome.” The event started in 2000, drawing thousands who spilled off the Capitol lawn calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse. The rebel banner finally left for good in 2015 after a racist shooting killed nine at a Charleston church.

In Atlanta, the King Center’s annual commemorative service was being held at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King served as pastor.

Meanwhile, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis announced that it would be closed on Monday because of icy roads but would still hold a virtual celebration in honor of King’s birthday.

Observed federally since 1986, the holiday occurs on the third Monday of January, which this year happens to be King’s actual birthday. Born in 1929, the slain civil rights leader would have been 95. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act and King’s Nobel Peace Prize.