The Youth Working Together for a “Speedy” Awareness group announced the MLK Youth Infusion 2010 recently.

The planned events engage youth in the political, educational and religious arena in the celebration of the life and legacy of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The theme for this year is, “2010: Infused Again.”

The MLK Youth Conference will be held at Cedar Lake Christian Center’s “Ledbetter Hall” on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 3 p.m.

The conference speaker this year is Portia Ellis, a native of Cedartown and the daughter of Ernestine P. and the late Charles W. Ellis, Jr.

Ellis retired from Cedartown High School as a Health and Fitness teacher after 32 years where she coached the girl’s basketball team for 14 years.

She is a graduate of Berry College, where she became the first African American female to play on the Berry College girl’s basketball team.

There will also be sessions held by Manya Jackson and Gina Joshua. Refreshments will be served at this event.

The seventh annual MLK Youth Parade of Talent will be held at Friendship Baptist Church on MLK Blvd., Cedartown, at 4 p.m.

The keynote speaker for the parade of talent is the Rev. Dr. C. Howard Nevett, a native of Birmingham, Ala.

Nevett is a professor at Birmingham Baptist College. He has served in ministry for 52 years. In 1982, he was featured in Ebony Magazine as one of the “Top Ten” ministers/politicians in America. He served two terms in the Alabama House of Representatives.

Nevett was a foot soldier for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and has marched with the late King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy in Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, Ala.

At the Monday, Jan. 11 meeting of the Cedartown Board of Commissioners, the membership of YWTSA met with the board to watch due process, voting and the signing of the fourth proposed proclamation that was written by the YWTSA advisors and membership.

These events are sponsored by YWTSA of Cedartown, a youth organization that provides educational, community services and other enrichment projects that assist individuals in increasing achievement in educational and problem solving skill.