“Let Us Walk Together” is the theme for the annual local event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A march across the MLK Memorial Bridge is scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17, when participants will gather in the parking of the Woodson Center for Excellence, 3424 Cockerell Drive. Plans have not been announced about speakers for the event.

On Monday evening, Jan. 17, Richmond E. Stoglin, with CEO of The Stoglin Group, will be guest speaker for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. banquet. Theme will be “Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere.” The banquet, sponsored by the Abilene Black Chamber of Commerce, will begin at 6 p.m. at the Abilene Convention Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. Tickets are $35 per person and $350 for a table of 10. To purchase tickets, call 665-1400 or 676-0138. Or email 1975ABCC@gmail.com

The Stoglin Group specializes in leadership development and crisis management. Corporate headquarters are in Arlington, Texas.

The following information is from The Stoglin Group website:

MISSION

The Stoglin Group, Incorporated has leadership development and crisis management at the core of our business. Additionally, we provide racial and religious training in the workplace. The Stoglin Group, Incorporated believes citizens should be involved in the process of making their city, workplace and personal environment a great place in which they can thrive.

Plutarch, the Greek philosopher put it this way, “You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know who to follow, too. Or, in the words of my drill instructor, Gunny Marine Sergeant Bill Crawford, who said loud and clear, “Listen up you; if you cannot follow then you cannot lead.” Hence leadership has to be defined, acted upon and implemented with strategic applications. The Stoglin Group’s primary mission is to teach others how to take on the role of “Leader,” in this ever expanding global economy.

SIX AREAS OF EXPERTISE

The Stoglin Group teaches that leaders must have a minimum of six areas of expertise if they hope to “make difference-making more than an exercise.” Thus, leaders are: 

Readers – reading brings ideas
Thinkers – thinking, after all, is fundamental. 
Physically Able – not only are drugs addictive, but disabling. 
Mentally Stable – for such creates balance. Rudyard Kipling spoke of it eloquently in his poem, “If” when he said, “to keep your head about you when others are losing theirs,” speaks volumes of the importance of stability during a chaotic time. 
Open to New Ideas – After all, believe it or not, none of us are God. 
Spiritually Connected – A Native American saying states, “May you go in beauty. And, as you go, may you plant flowers so that others may enjoy them. And, as you go, may beauty go with you. “Yatta Hay” (for all my relations) (a Navaho blessing)..”

Top image credit: US Mission Geneva on Visualhunt / CC BY-SA
Photo credit: The Stoglin Group website, https://stoglingroup.net/