ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Gwinnett County has been canceled due to cold weather expected to move through Atlanta.

The Gwinnett County Democratic Party announced that the United Ebony Society made the decision.

The party said, “This decision was not made lightly, and was made to prioritize the safety of our community. We welcome you to honor Dr. King’s legacy in your own way and hope you stay warm!”

According to the Atlanta News First First Alert Weather team, it will be below freezing Monday morning and could be as low as 29 degrees at noon. Highs tomorrow are expected to be in the low 30s.

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We’ll have a Winter Storm Watch from Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning with the possibility of one to three inches of snow possible.

The highest impacts are expected in areas south of Interstate 20.

Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz is tracking the timing on when it will arrive.

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ATLANTA – The annual Beloved Community Awards by The King Center kicked off a weekend of remembrance and service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It’s a night to honor people working to make the world a more just place.

But the injustice of an unhoused man’s death, caused by an Atlanta City Public Works truck during a sweep of the encampment where he was sleeping, weighed heavily on many of the civil rights leaders gathered at the ceremony.

MLK Beloved Community Awards

The music, glitz and glamor of the annual awards ceremony shined bright Saturday evening.

As celebrities and community leaders came together to honor those working to carry out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a “beloved community.”

Actress Jenifer Lewis, who’s starred in many movies and T.V. shows including Black-ish, received an award during the ceremony.

“I’ve had a lot of wonderful occasions in these 68 years, but this is the most wonderful. The glory and the hallelujah of it all when people come together, stand strong and unite,” Lewis said.

Civil rights leaders concerned about homeless man’s death

But the death of a man who was homeless at the hands of an Atlanta City Public Works truck while they were trying to sweep the encampment where he was staying on Old Wheat Street Thursday, happened just a few hundred feet away from The King Center. 

Dr. Bernice King, CEO of the King Center and daughter of the late Dr. King lamented the tragedy.

“I just wish that the person who did this would’ve thought about ‘hey let’s check the tents, let’s make sure human beings are not present’ before they cleared out the camp,” King said.

FOX 5 was at another MLK Day event in Stone Mountain and caught up with the President of Hosea Helps Elisabeth Omilami.

She decried the tragedy and says the death feels too similar to the deaths of the two sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

“It reminds me of the gentlemen who were crushed by the garbage truck in Memphis at Martin Luther King’s last speech where he was assassinated in Memphis,” Omilami said.  

State President of the NAACP Gerald Griggs was at Saturday’s awards ceremony and says it shows how badly the City needs to make changes.

“We don’t need to move people when we’re having international guests. I think Dr. King would want us to embrace those unhoused brothers and sisters and do more to provide the necessary funds and housing for them,” Griggs said.  

How City of Atlanta leaders are responding

In a statement, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the city will “review each of our processes and procedures and take every precaution to ensure this never happens again.”

Dr. King says the King Center stands ready to help them do that.  

“We’re looking forward at The King Center to possibly working with the City to train people on how to carry out what they’re trained to do in a humane way,” King said.  

Some activists have accused the City of clearing the homeless encampment because of its proximity to The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park and the upcoming holiday.

But the City denies that. 

In a statement, Cathry Vassell, CEO for Partners for HOME, which works with the City to get people housed, said they had been working with this encampment for months to try and get them off the streets prior to this sweep.

“The first engagement with this encampment began the week of April 5, 2024. Individuals began transitioning to shelter on June 7, 2024. Through these ongoing efforts, 21 individuals have been connected to shelter and housing,” her statement reads.