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DeKalb County announces 2017 MLK Day event time and speaker

Screen capture from the CBS national broadcast of the 'I Have a Dream' speech of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968), Washington, DC, August 28, 1963. King Jr. delivered his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to over 200,000 supporters at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

Credit: CBS Photo Archive

Credit: CBS Photo Archive

Screen capture from the CBS national broadcast of the 'I Have a Dream' speech of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968), Washington, DC, August 28, 1963. King Jr. delivered his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to over 200,000 supporters at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
By Joshua Sharpe
Jan 3, 2017

A proud tradition returns to DeKalb County next Friday.

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration is set for Jan. 13, at 10 a.m. in the Maloof Auditorium in downtown Decatur, the county announced Tuesday morning.

The keynote address will be delivered by Francys Johnson, state president of the Georgia NAACP.

Johnson is the senior minister at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Pembroke and Magnolia Missionary Baptist Church in Statesboro. He also practices criminal and civil law with The Johnson Firm P.C. Attorneys and Counselors of Law in Statesboro.

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The 2017 tribute marks the 33rd consecutive year DeKalb will host the employee-planned event honoring the life and legacy of King.

The celebration is free and open to the public. The auditorium is at 1300 Commerce Drive.

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