We are all MLK

Join Us in Celebrating and Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Minneapolis College is highlighting our MLK theme “Safeguarding Beloved Community” at events on three different dates. These events are open to students, employees and the community.

Racial Justice Oratorical Contest Winners

This event showcases scholarship winners of the racial justice oratorical contest.

Service Event: Following the awards, students are invited to participate in a service project that will result in donations to nearby organizations supporting people in need.

Thursday, January 18, 2024, 11 a.m. – noon in T Plaza

About the Contest:
Minneapolis College students and high school seniors from Metro Area High Schools were invited to submit a 500 to 1000-word speech or performance piece in response to the following questions and prompt -

What is “the drum major instinct,” and how does it distort personality?
Where do you see contemporary examples of its negative influence? Why should these examples be the source of alarm?
How does Dr. King’s “new definition of greatness” relate to our theme of Safeguarding Beloved Community?

MLK President's Breakfast

Join us for breakfast, live music by the College's Jazz Ensemble, a welcome from Minneapolis College President Sharon Pierce, and Keynote Speaker James White, Executive Vice President of the Center for Social Impact at YMCA of the North.

White has served as a consultant for several nonprofit and for-profit companies using a narrative approach to understand culture and race. For over 20 years he has provided sessions and lectures for numerous organizations concerned with diversity and community in the marketplace.

White's address will focus on Dr. King's legacy and the movement for civil rights as exemplified through the DEI work of the YMCA of the North and on our MLK theme "Safeguarding Beloved Community."

Thursday, January 25, 2024, 7 – 9 a.m. in T.1400

Black History Month Celebration

It's a festive start to Black History Month with Minneapolis College. Join us for food, a keynote address, and live music. Don't miss the celebration! This event is free.

Thursday, February 1, 2024, 6 – 8 p.m. in T.Plaza

5:30–6:30 p.m. | Music by the International Reggae All Stars
6–6:30 p.m. | Community Soul Food Dinner
6:30–7:30 p.m. | Keynote Speaker Tish Jones
7:30– 8 p.m. | Music by International Reggae All Stars and dessert service

Tish Jones will share a Keynote Address on "50 Years of Hip Hop: A History of Music and Culture."

Tish Jones is a poet, emcee, and Hip Hop Theater artist. Her work explores themes of Black love, liberation, politics, and Afro-Futurism. She has exhibited her work throughout the United States and abroad as a public performance artist committed to the power of narrative change through the arts. Tish also serves as the Founding Executive Director of TruArtSpeaks.

ASL interpreting will be available for this event. If you need other disability related accommodations to make this event accessible, please contact the Accessibility Resource Center at 612-659-6730 or accessibility@minneapolis.edu.

"And there is, deep down within all of us, an instinct. It’s a kind of drum major instinct—a desire to be out front, desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first. We all want to be important to surpass others, to achieve distinction… I want to move to saying that if this instinct is not harnessed, it becomes a very dangerous, pernicious instinct… The final great tragedy of the distorted personality is the fact that when one fails to harness this instinct, (s)he ends by trying to push others down in order to push (her)himself up.

The drum major instinct can lead to exclusivism in one’s thinking and can lead one to feel that because (s)he has some training, (s)he’s a little better than that person that doesn’t have it, or because (s)he has some economic security, that (s)he’s a little better than the person who doesn’t have it.

Do you know that a lot of the race problem grows out of the drum major instinct? A need that some people must feel superior… And we have perverted the drum major instinct. But let me rush on to my conclusion by giving a new definition of greatness. True greatness comes not by favoritism, but by fitness. If you want to be important—wonderful.

If you want to be recognized—wonderful. But recognize that (s)he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. It means that everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."

—Martin Luther King, Jr., The Drum Major Instinct (February 4, 1968)

MLK 2023

MLK 2022

To reflect on King’s life-long dedication to equality and the mid-century civil rights movement he led, this virtual event featured Minneapolis College President Sharon Pierce and Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon.

It also showcased winning scholarship entries from students’ essays on King’s work and how it paved the way for overcoming today’s barriers to equity and justice. It connects youth from various communities with the ideologies of this incredible leader whose work is equally as relevant today as it was during the peak of the movement he led.

View the MLK Event Video

Join our Town Hall with Raymond Wise, Ph.D, Professor of Practice, African American and African Diaspora Studies, Director, African American Choral Ensemble and Associate Director, African American Arts Institute at Indiana University. Please register to attend.

View the Town Hall Meeting Video

MLK 2021

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. CELEBRATION 2021

To reflect on King’s life-long dedication to equality and the mid-century civil rights movement he led, this virtual event featured Minneapolis College President Sharon Pierce and Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero. It also showcased winning scholarship entries from 5 students’ essays on King’s work and how it paved the way for overcoming today’s barriers to equity and justice. It connected youth from various communities with the ideologies of this incredible leader whose work is equally as relevant today as it was during the peak of the movement he led.

The event included an unveiling of Minneapolis College's Bridging the Equity Gap Initiative, a showcase reading and closing reflection by award-winning poet and author, Claudia Rankine, including a short reading from her book, Just Us: An American Conversation.

View the Event Video

The virtual Town Hall Meeting focused on social justice and racial healing. The conversation, facilitated by Rankine and Pierce, will reflect on a video presentation and reading on Rankine’s work. The event will conclude with questions from attendees.

View the Town Hall Meeting Video

Community Unity Vigil

Consider a self-guided journey through Minneapolis to reflect on the struggle for justice, change, equity and hope.

Woven Together in the Struggle for Justice, Change, Equity and Hope

Vigil: a period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep; a vigil, meaning wakefulness, is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching or observance.

“One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change...but today our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.

EXPLORE. SOUL SEARCH. COMMIT TO ACT.

Chicago Avenue and Thirty-Eighth Street (For Justice)

While journeying to the location, ask yourself—what is the meaning of justice, and how are its causes advanced in my family or personal life?
Upon arrival to the site, breathe in the experience of this location (for 8 minutes and 46 seconds), while asking yourself—how is my view of justice transformed by the solemnity of this place?
After departure from the landmark, ask yourself—what concrete steps will I take to increase fairness of treatment and racial healing?

East Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue (For Change)

While journeying to the location, ask yourself—what does it mean to protect with courage and serve with compassion; how do I ensure that law enforcement is accountable for the public safety of neighbors more than those dwelling next door?
Upon arrival to the site, breathe in the experience of this location (for 8 minutes and 46 seconds), while asking yourself—how is my view of civil disobedience and effective protest transformed by the gravity of this place?
After departure from the landmark, ask yourself—what concrete steps will I take to calm social unrest and renew confidence in the collaborative work of public safety?

North Fifteenth Ave and Irving Avenue North (For Equity)

While journeying to the location, ask yourself—what is the meaning of equity in distinction to equality, and why might treating everyone the same produce an unfair outcome?
Upon arrival to the site, breathe in the experience of this location (for 8 minutes and 46 seconds), while asking yourself—how is my view of an equitable learning environment transformed by the accessibility and architecture of this place?
After departure from the landmark, ask yourself—what concrete steps will I take to dismantle systems that perpetuate educational disparities and disadvantage the students we serve?

Hennepin Avenue between Lake and Thirty-First Streets (For Hope)

While journeying to the location, ask yourself—what is my daydream for a tomorrow united by our collective diversity, and what are causes to hope the reality of my vision for the future?
Upon arrival to the site, breathe in the experience of this location (for 8 minutes and 46 seconds), while asking yourself—how is my view of the future transformed by the culture and artistry of this place?
After departure from the landmark, ask yourself—what concrete steps will I take to build bridges or relations of trust that hasten the dawn of our more perfect union?

JUSTICE • CHANGE • EQUITY • HOPE