The following East Valley events will help commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

By Jewell Parker Rhodes

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Classic is on again Monday with five games featuring some of the top teams in Arizona prep basketball at Wells Fargo Arena.

ATLANTA - The first Martin Luther King Jr. Day since the death of King's widow and the chief keeper of his civil rights dream was marked Monday with speeches, visits to the couple's tomb and the opening of a collection of his papers, including a draft of his "I Have a Dream" speech.

ATLANTA - If he were alive now, Martin Luther King would be reacting to the sobering news emanating from overseas with a message of peace and compassion, his son said Monday.

East Valley school districts and campuses will be closed Monday to observe the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

As the Mesa Martin Luther King Jr. Committee prepares for the annual 2013 Celebration of Dr. King’s life, Legacy and dreams this weekend, my thoughts are not only on Dr. King but also on President Abraham Lincoln.

For a while, the future of Mesa’s three-day-long Martin Luther King Jr. celebration looked bleak. But last week, MLK parade organizers received some good news: a local Mesa family heard about their plight and offered to donate the remaining $9,000 to jump-start the parade.

Tempe hopes to create a regional Martin Luther King Jr. celebration that planners say could draw at least 7,500 people from throughout the East Valley.

It has been nearly 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, and Warren H. Stewart Sr. has been studying those words and all of King’s teachings for decades. Twenty years ago, Stewart was instrumental in securing Martin Luther King Day in Arizona and on Friday he served as the keynote speaker for Glendale’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Day Luncheon.

Despite earlier scheduling conflicts, Scottsdale officials said they will take a larger role in the regional Martin Luther King Jr. "Unity Walk" in Tempe.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, two weekend celebrations in the East Valley will focus on diversity.

January 18, 2005

Loren Campbell belted out well-known words Monday from a speech by Martin Luther King Jr., but not before she retold King’s story of a letter he remembered from a girl almost her age.

ATLANTA - Coretta Scott King, who turned a life shattered by her husband's assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality, has died. She was 78.

LITHONIA, Ga. - Shivering in near-freezing temperatures, hundreds of people waited hours in line Tuesday for one last chance to say goodbye to Coretta Scott King before her funeral.

Rain, cold and wind didn't deter hundreds of people of all ages and races from celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday Monday in downtown Mesa.

ATLANTA - Coretta Scott King, who turned a life shattered by her husband's assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality, has died at the age of 78.

Segregation and the struggle for racial equality seem distant to some East Valley students as they try to comprehend the meaning behind Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Segregation and the struggle for racial equality seem distant to some East Valley students as they try to comprehend the meaning behind Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will be honored in Scottsdale next month with several activities sponsored by the city, the Scottsdale Unified School District and Community Celebrating Diversity.

All it took to save the Mesa Veterans Day Parade were a few articles in a newspaper. Within only a few weeks, money poured in to help the parade get off the ground again, and although they have only a month left to plan, volunteers are confident the parade will happen in November.