Last week, Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO of The King Center in Atlanta, Ga., announced a schedule of programs and events in celebration of this year’s King Holiday Observance, commemorating what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 97th birthday.
The 2026 theme is Mission Possible 2: Building Community, Uniting A Nation — the Nonviolent Way.
Programs and events around the country began Monday, January 12, 2026, and continue through Monday, January 19, 2026.
This year’s schedule includes events being replicated throughout the nation, among them the Beloved Community Global Summit and Youth Summit, Community Children’s Book Reading, Community Teach-In, King Day Community Service Projects, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Beloved Community Commemorative Service. The observance commemorates what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 97th birthday.
“This year’s King Holiday Observance theme and corresponding experiences and events reflect a call up and in, to the collective, critical work of building community, uniting a nation…,” said Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO, The King Center.
“There is not a more urgent bell we must answer than the one signaling that it is indeed beyond time for us to realize our interconnectedness in what my father called the “World House,” and to learn to live together well.
On Monday, Jan. 19, The Rev. A.R Bernard Sr., founder, senior pastor and CEO of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., will be the keynote speaker at the 57th Annual Commemorative Service, the hallmark of the King Holiday Observance, from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. The event will be livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube, and broadcast live on Fox 5 Atlanta (Monday, Jan. 19th) from 10:00am to 1:00pm at the King Center’s Atlanta campus.
The service will feature special musical performances by Pastor Shirley Caesar, Lady Tramaine Hawkins, American Idol winner Jamal Roberts, Bishop William Murphy, and Mark Gutierrez. Reverend Natosha Reid Rice and Pastor Reginald W. Sharpe, Jr. will preside.
“KHO 2026 is purposed to galvanize us for answering that bell and prepare us for the love-centered strategic work ahead,” Dr. Bernice King said.