Amarillo’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Citywide Celebration will be held Monday, Jan. 19, at 11 a.m. at the Palo Duro Activity Center, bringing together students, community leaders and residents for a program centered on legacy, unity and the next generation.
This year’s event continues its collaboration with Amarillo ISD students and will feature a combined AISD choir, a quintet from the Amarillo Youth Symphony Orchestra and youth performances from Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch.
Event organizer Keith Grays said youth participation is central to the purpose of the program.
“This is the next generation,” Grays said. “A lot of the program is centered around our young people. Boys Ranch, for example, will be participating for the third or fourth year now, and that matters.”
The mistress of ceremonies will be Elizabeth Overstreet-Hampton of Amarillo College, a longtime Amarillo resident whose family roots in the city span generations.
“I’m a daughter of Amarillo,” Overstreet-Hampton said. “My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents all lived here. This community raised me.”
A graduate of Palo Duro High School, Overstreet-Hampton said she left Amarillo to pursue higher education, earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and a master’s degree in public health from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois.
She is a certified tennis instructor and spent more than two decades coaching tennis in the Dallas area before later becoming a licensed funeral director. She eventually returned home to lead operations at Warford-Overstreet Mortuary, a longtime North Amarillo institution, and has remained active in community organizations including the NAACP and local civic groups.
She said her understanding of service and justice was shaped by both faith and family, including the example set by her father, Morris Overstreet. Overstreet worked in private practice before serving four years as presiding judge of the Potter County Court. In 1990, he made history as the first African American elected to a statewide judicial office in Texas since Reconstruction and later served on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, where he authored more than 500 opinions.
“This day is about community and togetherness,” she said. “Dr. King represented the American dream — that everyone is treated equally and that justice matters. The movement looks different today, but we are still called to move forward together.”
Overstreet-Hampton said MLK celebrations matter not just for remembrance, but because they challenge people to engage more deeply with history and responsibility.
“Recognition gives people the opportunity to remember,” she said. “And then it puts the responsibility on the individual. If something makes you curious, go learn more. Go look it up. Decide what you’re going to do with that knowledge.”
She also emphasized that the celebration is not limited to one community.
“Yes, Dr. King was African American, but the movement was bigger than one person,” she said. “People from all backgrounds came together to make change. This celebration belongs to the entire community.”
Potter County Commissioner Warren Coble, the event’s keynote speaker, said the day carries personal weight for him as someone who lived through the civil rights era.
“This is over the top for me,” Coble said. “I’ve never been honored with anything like this.”
Born in 1952, Coble said he remembers the fear and grief that followed the assassination of Dr. King and said King’s legacy is rooted in sacrifice for future generations.
“A man would stick his neck out for the world — not just for himself, but for his children and everybody else’s children to come,” he said. “That kind of sacrifice doesn’t get any bigger.”
Coble said younger generations often underestimate the depth of the struggle that shaped today’s opportunities.
“MLK is just one day. You can’t tell a man’s life story in one day,” he said. “A lot of young people don’t understand the struggles because they didn’t live it. I’m living history.”
He said his hope for the event is that young people feel compelled to step forward and take ownership of their role in the community.
“There’s more work to be done,” Coble said. “I’m already looking for someone to come along beside me so I can pass the torch. That’s what this is about — keeping the torch moving.”
Both speakers said the celebration has evolved in recent years, shifting indoors after weather repeatedly impacted attendance at outdoor parade and park events.
“We had weather that just kicked your tail,” Coble said. “A lot of the older folks couldn’t make the march, and they’re the ones who lived this. They wanted to be part of it. Doing it this way lets them come.”
Program participants include:
Overstreet-Hampton said her hope is that residents leave the celebration thinking beyond the event itself.
“Remember your heritage. Remember your leaders,” she said. “And ask yourself: What are you going to contribute to the story that’s still being written?”
Discovery Center offering MLK Day camp
With school out Monday, Jan. 19, the Don Harrington Discovery Center will host a Weather Wonders Discovery Day Camp for children ages 4 to 11.
The camp features hands-on science activities exploring clouds, wind and tornadoes, with instruction tailored by age group.
Sessions run 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 12:30 to 4 p.m. Full-day options are available for children 5 and older.
Registration is open at dhdc.org. Space is limited.
City offices closed Monday
City of Amarillo offices will be closed Monday, Jan. 19, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
City Hall, all Amarillo Public Library locations and Amarillo Municipal Court will be closed. Municipal court payments may still be made online. Amarillo City Transit will operate on a normal schedule.
Solid Waste changes:
Ross Rogers and Comanche Trail golf complexes will operate under normal hours.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo MLK celebration set for Jan. 19, youth focus
Reporting by Michael Cuviello, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
