The Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission officially launched its 2026 King Week celebration in Stuttgart, with a special ceremony at the Holman Heritage Community Center, honoring numerous local residents and organizations for their service and dedication to the “Beloved Community.” The kickoff event, under the leadership of Executive Director DuShun Scarbrough, celebrated King’s legacy and highlighted individuals whose lifetime of work embodies the commission’s mission.
The Holman Heritage Community Center, formerly the Holman School, was described as a cornerstone of the Stuttgart community with a rich history and ongoing importance. The institution was founded in the early 1940s as a school with the purpose of educating Black students.
According to Arkansas County Quorum Court member and Holman alumna Inez McLemore, Holman School was temporarily closed with desegregation. Alumni later came together, because “everybody wanted to get the school back.”
The building was purchased, with the school district asking for $152,000 in 1996. The organizing group raised $500 in three days and eventually secured the building.
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The Holman Grand Reunion Committee, organized in 1981, has been vital in this effort, reconnecting alumni dating back to the first graduating class in 1942 and providing vital financial support to the school and community center.
“Your presence affirms that Dr. King’s dream is alive and active in the Stuttgart community,” announced a commission representative, quoting King. “Everybody can be great because everyone can serve and those who honor today reflect that spirit.”
The 2026 King Holiday Beloved Community recognitions featured a diverse group of honorees, whose names will be recorded in history by the Arkansas secretary of state for their contributions:
• Joe Alexander Jr. was recognized for over 50 years of community service, including organizing outreach events, MLK celebrations, and serving on the board of the Big Dawgs Mentoring Program. He was instrumental in passing Stuttgart’s missing person proclamation and organizing a search and rescue team for Arkansas County.
• Franklin Bledsaw and his wife, Cachet, were recognized for their work in the community. Franklin Bledsaw, owner of Big Dawg Cutz, overcame personal challenges to become “the change that we want to see in Stuttgart.”
• Wade Hobbs, a Vietnam veteran and Bronze Medal recipient honored for his bravery in 1968, has served on the city council for two terms. Hobbs was noted for providing shelter for the homeless and serving at the Holman Community Development Center.
• Luana Spears was hailed as a “living witness to history.” The 90-year-old retired educator was recognized for her decades of service at schools, including Holman High School, and her ongoing volunteer work with the Holman community through tutoring and volunteering at the nursing home.
• Misty Coker was recognized for her nonprofit work. Coker is the founder and president of the nonprofit Personal Pep Rally, which sends encouraging “Joy Mail” care packages to cancer patients nationwide, and for her local leadership, earning her the 2024 Stuttgart Citizen of the Year award. Her work honors her son-in-law, former White Hall Coach Marc Stringer, who battled esophageal cancer, and focuses on providing hope through small acts of kindness, handwritten notes and community support for those facing illness. She organizes and promotes local events like the Endure the Dirt race in Stuttgart, a fundraiser for Personal Pep Rally.
• David Leech was recognized by the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission for his service to the quality of life in Stuttgart. His key contributions and recognitions include serving as former economic development coordinator, helping bring high-speed internet to the community, serving on the Stuttgart City Council and strengthening civic engagement. As past president, he helped grow the Rotary Club of Stuttgart into one of the largest in the state.
The event also honored organizations such as the Holman Grand Reunion Committee, the Stuttgart World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest and Wings Over the Prairie Festival, Stuttgart’s Chamber of Commerce, the Phillips Community College Stuttgart Campus, the Holman Community Development Corporation, the Stuttgart Gloves Not Guns, and the Arkansas County Youth Growth and Development Program.
A focus of this year’s King Week kickoff was literacy and youth development. Melvin Bryant, principal of Park Avenue Elementary School, brought over 100 students to the event. He stressed the importance of reading. “If you’re not proficient at Grade 3, it’s not good … We want you to understand why you learn to read,” he said. “It opens up doors and doors and doors, you can go anywhere.”
The commission announced a partnership with the new Stuttgart MLK Unity Alliance to launch the MLK Lead to Read initiative to promote literacy.
The Board of Directors includes President Teddy Holt, owner of Holt Home Improvements, Stuttgart City alderman, and active member of the Southeast Arkansas Workforce Development Board and the SEADD Board; Vice President Shelly Owens, co-owner of Relerford Funeral Home, Stuttgart’s Celebrating Culture 2024 Person of the Year and the Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Community Volunteer of the Year; Fara Foster, secretary and executive director of the Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie; Latanyua Taylor Robinson, founder and president of Latrobe LLC; Shannon Owens Hendrix, client services director with Serve2Perform and physician consultant with MedExcellence; and Dr. Jerrick White, director of pharmacy services for Tennessee Oncology in Nashville, Tenn,
Scarbrough emphasized the meaning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“The King Holiday is more than a day on the calendar. It is a day of life. It’s a call to action. It’s a reminder that we carried the responsibility to live on these ideals,” said Scarbrough. He noted that the new partnership with the Unity Alliance would empower students with “the gift of literacy, the foundation for lifelong worth.” He added that through unity and service, “We transform our communities just like right here in Stuttgart, Ark.”
The Arkansas Department of Education’s Secretary Jacob Oliva was a guest speaker. He voiced the department’s commitment to the cause, saying, “We want to make sure that every child, regardless of … background and desire, has the opportunity to excel beyond even their own wildest dreams.”
In a follow-up interview, Scarbrough commented on the commission’s formal decision to join the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce. “It takes a village, and what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to invest in the community to show that we don’t only just talk about it,” he said. “We want to take that investment to be able to be affiliated with many of the other businesses that are right here and share a common goal.”
King Week 2026 will continue with various service projects across the state, including coat giveaways and literacy programs. The festivities will culminate with a Unity Breakfast on Monday, the federal observance of the holiday, at the Victor’s Empowerment Center, where Scarbrough will serve as the keynote speaker.
