Parts of Auburn Avenue and Piedmont Avenue downtown will be closed late Monday morning for a march commemorating the funeral procession for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — 50 years after King's April 9, 1968, funeral.
The march begins at Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn and ends at Liberty Plaza after circling the State Capitol. At 11 a.m., Atlanta police said, the city will close Piedmont Avenue from Auburn to the Capitol and Auburn Avenue from Ebenezer to Piedmont. The part of Auburn near the starting point of the March for Humanity will be closed at 10 a.m. so marchers may gather safely.
Credit: Robert Dibrell
Credit: Robert Dibrell
All cross streets will be blocked at their intersections with Piedmont or Auburn.
The march will proceed west down Auburn from Ebenezer. The marchers will pass beneath the I-75/85 overpass and then turn left onto Piedmont.
The path of the march goes up Piedmont to Capitol Square, encircles the Capitol once and then arrives at Liberty Plaza. (At its intersection with Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, at the state Capitol, Piedmont's name changes to Capitol Avenue SW.) Liberty Plaza lies across Capitol Avenue from the bronze statue of Martin Luther King Jr. that was dedicated last August on the Capitol grounds.
Members of the King family and Gov. Nathan Deal are expected to speak at 1 p.m. in a short ceremony at Liberty Plaza.
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