PORTLAND — A Fox News commentator and the first black player in the National Hockey League are the featured guests at the NAACP’s 28th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast on Jan. 19.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, an assistant professor at Temple University who is known as a “hip-hop intellectual” for his use of the hip-hop culture as an educational bridge. Hill is also a regular lecturer and a political commentator for Fox News. In 2005, he was named one of America’s top 30 black leaders under 30 years old.
Also scheduled to attend the breakfast at the Holiday Inn by the Bay is Willie O’Ree, who in 1958 became the first black National Hockey League player. O’Ree, a Canadian, is the director of youth development for the NHL and is also the league’s “Hockey is for Everyone” diversity program ambassador.
The Portland Pirates have teamed up with the NAACP for a special Martin Luther King Jr. Day afternoon game, which O’Ree will attend. The game begins at 1 p.m., and tickets for NAACP members are available at the discounted price of $10. For more information, call Scott Jordan at 828-4665 ext. 333.
The NAACP’s 24th annual Music and Gospel Concert is Sunday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. at Merrill Auditorium, and features Sweet Honey in the Rock. The six-woman group has performed for audiences for the past 35 years and sings everything from gospel and hymns to doo-wop and rap. Tickets are available through PorTix.com or by calling 842-0800.
Tickets for the King breakfast are $20 for adults and $8 for children 14 and under. Tickets will not be sold at the door this year. Call 253-5074 for more information, or go to portlandmlk.net.