Martin Luther King Jr. said, “If we cannot live together as brothers, we will perish as fools.”

South Fulton and Clayton County will celebrate MLK’s call for brotherhood in what would have been the civil rights leader’s 81st birthday this weekend with a host of activities and services.

On Saturday, the annual commemorative MLK Birthday Parade, traditionally held in Jonesboro, will be conducted for the first time in Riverdale with the stepping off point being the New Macedonia Baptist Church, 7725 Georgia Highway 85 in Riverdale.

The parade begins at 10 a.m. Its theme this year is a “Celebration of the Dream” with the Grand Marshal being Deacon Herman Turner of New Macedonia.

In addition, the Clayton County Martin Luther King, Jr., Ecumenical Service, sponsored by the Concerned Black Citizens Coalition of Clayton County, is scheduled this Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Dixon Grove Baptist Church, 7690 Fielder Road in Jonesboro.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference South Fulton Chapter will conduct its Martin Luther King Jr., Celebration Service Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Temple of Prayer, UCOGIC-Chapter Office, 161 Senoia Road in Fairburn.

At the MLK Ecumenical Service at Dixon Grove Baptist Church, the keynote address will be given by the Rev. Richard D. Winn Sr., senior pastor at Ben Hill United Methodist Church in southwest Atlanta.

At the SCLC service, new Fairburn Mayor Mario Avery, the first African-American elected to the city’s chief executive post, will deliver the keynote address.

Other program participants include the Campbell Elementary fourth and fifth grade chorus, the M.L. King Celebration Choir, the Bread of Heaven Praise Dancers and other guest performers.

The SCLC is also asking any other singers to participate. They are asked to meet at the chapter office at 161 Senoia Road in Fairburn this Saturday at noon for a one time rehearsal.

The M.L.K. parade in Riverdale will take it from the church onto Georgia Highway 85 where it will conclude at the Home Depot.

Mary Joffer, a volunteer with the MLK, Jr. Committee, said the parade will feature at least four local high school bands as well as units representing a number of Clayton County agencies, including the county’s sheriff and police departments and the Riverdale Police and Fire Department.

Dignitaries in the parade include District 13 U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Jonesboro; Riverdale Mayor Evelyn Wynn-Dixon and members of the Clayton County Legislative Delegation.

Also scheduled to participate are members of the Tuskegee Airmen, the Jonesboro Masonic Lodge and the Masonic Lodge of Locust Grove, the Clayton County Chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., numerous Boys and Girl Scout troops and Clayton churches.

Bishop Aaron Lackey, Sr., president of the S.C.L.C. South Fulton Chapter and chapter chairman, the Rev. Greg Fann, said the celebration is shaping up to be one of the best ever.

“It is our hope this service will be remembered and be our foundation, as we take Dr. King’s message of brotherhood from this building into the world,” Fann said.