MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake Martin Luther King, Jr., committee is honoring the man whose dream helped transform a country with two events next week.

The committee hosts a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, at El Sendero De La Cruz Church, 2227 W Peninsula Dr., in Moses Lake.

Joe Rogers, who retired as head of Big Bend Community College's sociology department, is the keynote speaker.

Rogers plans to speak about seeing King's dream come to fruition in the U.S.

"Being almost 70 years old and living in the south during the early part of my life, I've actually seen the changes that have come about from the civil rights movement and from the work of Dr. Martin Luther King," he said. "I saw the stripe on the buses and the fact that black people had to sit behind that and white people in front, and the different colored water fountains in the grocery store, one for blacks and one for whites. When you've seen that and experienced that, I think our whole journey to the state where we are right now where we've got a black president, it's pretty amazing."

Rogers also plans to speak about the impact Dr. King has had on the Arab Spring demonstrations in the Middle East.

"No matter which country you talk about, they try it nonviolently," he said. "Look at what's going on in Syria right now. They're getting shot because they go out in these nonviolent marches and you'll often hear things like 'we shall overcome' or 'we have a dream.' I mean, it's definitely patterned after Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement."

The Say Yes Choir and Ora Lee Hunter perform music at the celebration. The event also includes music and a presentation by Moses Lake children.

The committee holds a fundraising banquet at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at the Moses Lake Event Center, 1475 Nelson Road NE.

They ask for donations of $10 for adults, $5 for children and $50 for a table of eight. A limited number of tickets are available.

To purchase tickets, contact Charlie Jones at 509-766-7530.