Biloxi working on plans to revive MLK parade and Battle of the Bands, but needs help
A huge celebration for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is planned in Biloxi in January if groups can work together to make it happen.
The city already has a contract to rent the Keesler Federal Park on Jan. 20 for the Battle of the Bands, a contract with the Mississippi Valley State band to play, and plans for a parade along Howard Avenue to the stadium, said Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich.
“That’s a $40,000 event,” Gilich estimates, and said Biloxi needs to pull together a unified committee and identify funding opportunities by next week.
Both events were long parts of the MLK celebration in Biloxi, until a couple of years ago.
The MLK Coastwide Celebration Committee that oversaw the event for years fell apart and Biloxi Councilman Felix Gines said an audit of the organization showed some issues.
In January, the Legacy Business League filled in and brought an MLK symposium to Biloxi, and Gines said it will do so again in 2025.
He asked the council to move the $10,000 allocated for MLK observances to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department so expenses for any events can be paid through a registered 501c3 group.
The city received a letter in October from another committee that says it is working to bring back the parade.
Members of the community filled the council room Tuesday to say they want the $10,000 given to this new committee, which Gines said is not a registered nonprofit agency,
The group did not come to council during the budget process to ask for the funds, said council president Paul Tisdale. The council voted to move the money to Parks and Recreation for accountability and to provide a way to pay the expenses of the MLK events.
“Now we have these two groups out here,” Tisdale said. The new MLK Jr. committee was invited to join efforts, he said, “Calls were made but never returned. Can’t we all get along?”
Elaine Stevens said she heard about the dispute Monday. Her concern was the money was being moved away from the committee and the rights of the people to prevent the return of the parade, she said, until she learned differently during the meeting.
“There’s a way to compromise,” she said.
She agreed to try to bring the groups together for “collaboration and compromise,” and Gines said Angie Juzang, daughter of Biloxi civil rights leader Dr. Gilbert Mason, has agreed to oversee the planning of the events.
This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 5:36 PM.
