MLK Illumination at Meadowland Park on 1/19
January 19
5:00pm
We’re filling Meadowland Park with the largest display of MLK Day luminaries in SOMA. In partnership with the Community Coalition on Race (CCR), the park will be filled with light from the luminaries as well as special lighting and video installations using equipment donated by SOPAC and with generous financial support from Invisible Man.
Every luminary will be weighted down by canned food that will be donated to a local food pantry after the event. Bring your cans of food down to the Skate House starting at 2pm on 1/19, join us at 5pm for a ceremonial lighting with local officials and then wander the park to experience the installation!
To order your own CCR luminaries, click here.
More about the CCR’s programming earlier in the day on 1/19:
The South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race invites the community to gather for our 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Observance on Monday, 2 pm, January 19, 2026, as we honor Dr. King’s legacy and renew our shared commitment to equity and inclusion. This year’s theme, “Do Not Erase Our History,” calls us to remember that truth, memory, and historical understanding are essential to building the Beloved Community.
We are honored to welcome Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, the inaugural Professor of African American Studies and Public Affairs at Princeton University, director of the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project, and one of the nation’s leading voices on the intersections of race, history, and justice, as our keynote speaker. The event will also feature readings from Dr. King’s writings, performances by the Columbia High School Chorus and Special Dance, and reflections from local clergy.
Following the observance, all are invited to visit the exhibit created by Durand-Hedden House & Garden called ‘Slavery in New Jersey: A Troubled History.’ This project explores the history of enslaved people in New Jersey from its beginnings with Dutch settlement in the 17th century to the end of the Civil War.
