Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration

USC Aiken and Aiken Technical College will host the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024.

NBA legend and South Carolina native Alex English will provide the keynote address. English, renowned for his decorated basketball career and induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, played college basketball at the University of South Carolina before being selected in the 1976 NBA draft. He played 15 seasons in the NBA with four teams and scored more points than any other NBA player during the 1980s. He was named to eight NBA All-Star teams, and his No. 2 jersey was retired by the Denver Nuggets in 1992.

After his playing career, English was a TV analyst and assistant coach with Toronto, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Sacramento. He later became the first-ever director of player programs for the NBA and an active participant in the Sports Diplomacy’s Sports Envoy program for the U.S. Department of State. He dabbled in acting and has been involved in various business ventures in South Carolina, owning both franchises and start-ups. A member of the USC Board of Trustees since 2020, English currently lives in Blythewood.

The celebration will also include recognizing the 2024 Human & Civil Rights Champion Award recipients and winners of the poster, essay and multimedia contests held in conjunction with the event.

Doors open at 2:30 pm. The program starts at 3:00 pm. This event is free and open to the public.