Cobb County MLK Day program honors local activist Sally Riddle and features speeches, performances

A Martin Luther King Jr. Day program staged in Cobb County brought elected officials, civic leaders, performers and community activists together for speeches, music and the presentation of the NAACP’s Living the Dream award.

Chairwoman Lisa Cupid opened remarks thanking organizers and county staff and praising the annual event’s run in Cobb County. Fred Blankenship, the program’s master of ceremonies, told attendees, “We are Cobb County, and this is the best MLK program you are going to find anywhere.” Sebastian Bonner, speaking for the Cobb County NAACP, asked the audience to treat the day as both remembrance and a call to continued civic work: “NAACP membership is power. Enjoy the program.”

The program included multiple musical and spoken-word performances, youth presentations and civic liturgy. A Lockheed Martin representative addressed the audience on corporate commitments to diversity and urged listeners to put Dr. King’s words into practice. Performers included Danae Saint Hill, the Out of Ink Cowboys, ETD Studio, Ariel Prater on saxophone, Ramon Rush, gospel artist Maurice Smith and the Dynamite Dance Factory.

Doreen Bonner Willis, president of the Cobb County NAACP branch, presented the Living the Dream award to Sally Riddle. Riddle, introduced as the founder of the Cobb County Coalition of Public Safety, accepted and described the coalition as a cross-organizational volunteer effort convened around community concerns about policing. “The work that I do is done with many. It’s a coalition of volunteers in the community,” Riddle said, and she named partner organizations including the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Cobb Ministerial Alliance and others.

County staff and event organizers acknowledged sponsors and logistical support. Robert Edwards, special events unit manager for Cobb County Parks and Recreation, listed sponsors including Cobb County Government, the Cobb County NAACP, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, First Presbyterian Church and Walmart, and thanked communications staff and TV 23 for coverage. Edwards noted the program has run for more than 20 years with one interruption during the pandemic.

Organizers also asked for financial support for NAACP scholarships and youth programming; the master of ceremonies and others referenced donation boxes and QR codes available at the event for membership and scholarship pledges. The program closed with a benediction and a final group performance; attendees were invited to a reception next door at the Civic Center sponsored by First Presbyterian Church Youth and Greater Church Committee.

The event combined commemoration of Dr. King’s legacy with local civic organizing and community recognition, highlighting the coalition work on public-safety concerns and continued fundraising for youth scholarships.