Senator To Speak At Martin Luther King, Jr. Event

State Senator Brenda Gilmore will headline a Martin Luther King Jr. Day Event at the Putnam County Courthouse Sunday.

President of the NAACP Cookeville-Putnam County Branch Tom Savage said he expects inspiration from her keynote speech.

State Senator Brenda Gilmore will speak at the NAACP Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event. (Photo: NAACP)

“We are having newly elected Senator Brenda Gilmore of Nashville, Tennessee, who is a lifetime member of the NAACP but a ferocious activist in Davidson County,” Savage said. “So she is going to come and speak to us on that day. Hopefully, she will make our hearts burn.”

Gilmore served as the President of the National Hook Up of Black Women and Chair of the We Build People for the YMCA.

The Sunday event is one of several planned Martin Luther King Jr. remembrances over the three day period.

Savage said another event will take place at the Wesley Foundation later on Sunday.

“There is a guy by the name of Keith Caldwell who is going to be speaking at the Wesley Foundation in Cookeville. He went to Vanderbilt Divinity School,” Savage said. “He is going to come and inspire us.”

A Tennessee Tech day of service will take place on Monday followed by a multi-generational conversation on race and justice with Rev. Stephen Handy.

Director of Multicultural Affairs Charria Campbell said the events show the importance of King’s legacy.

“I think there is a lot we can learn from listening to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s past speeches and his sermons,” Campbell said. “And how to silently and peacefully protest. We can also learn how that brought communities together in that same light and that same vision.”

The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. will also hold a silent march on Tuesday.