
Hundreds gathered at the Overture Center’s Capitol Theatre on Jan. 20 in celebration of Madison and Dane County’s 40th annual observance of Martin Luther King Day.
Residents around Dane County gathered at the Overture Center’s Capitol Theater, 201 State St., at an annual celebration that aims to honor the legacy of Dr. King through fostering community. The event saw music, religious services, calls to action and the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Award to two recipients this year.
The 40th annual Madison and Dane County Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance kicked off with a performance from the MLK Community Choir. It was followed by opening remarks from Angela Russell, chief diversity officer of TruStage and host of the Black Oxygen Podcast.
“We gather this evening for a joyous celebration. And yet we know that this is a time of uncertainty and upheaval. It is difficult to not find a correlation with the challenges that Dr. King faced and what we’re facing today,” Russell said. “We therefore must draw on Dr King’s sense of optimism and remind each other that we will not give up the fight.”
Remarks followed by the Black National Anthem; an innovation from Alex Okelue, academic success coordinator at Edgewood College; and more music from the community choir and the humanitarian awards.
Recipients of the MLK Humanitarian Awards this year went to Charles Tubbs and Sheray Wallace.
Tubbs’ award was presented by Dane County Executive Melissa Agard. He received the award for his years of dedication to public service throughout his career which spanned through law enforcement, emergency management and community safety.
“Charles has demonstrated what it meant, what it means to lead with dignity, courage and heart,” Agard said. “Charles’ leadership shines brightest in the face of adversity. We all need people who are there with the steady hand that we know will guide us to the other side of the challenge, and that is who Charles is.”
Tubbs currently serves as the director of Dane County Emergency Management. He has previously served as chief of police for the Wisconsin State Capitol Police Department, an administrator for the State of Wisconsin Division of Juvenile Corrections and interim and deputy chief of police at the Beloit Police Department.
He volunteers heavily with organizations like the 100 Black Men of Madison, Restoring Roots, the Rotary Club of Madison, the NAACP of Dane County Branch and many others.
“I hold this award in the highest regard as a testimony to the power and service and the shared values that unites all of us,” Tubbs said. “Dr. King posed a question that continues to resonate today. ‘What are you doing for others?’ This question I thought about for 52 years — I’m old — of public service, the journey has become more than a career. It’s been a calling, a privilege and the responsibility of serving God, the family, the country and the community.”
Tubbs reminisced on his life. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a pastor, professional athlete, public servant or working in law enforcement. He found inspiration from people like Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali and Dr. King, but his own experiences helped shape his beliefs and made a call to action for law enforcement.
“Witnessing the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam protests, the Kent State unrest, the War on Drugs, the poor treatment of vulnerable people, my own mistreatment at times helped shape my belief that law enforcement needed to transform. Law enforcement cannot arrest its way out of its challenges,” Tubbs said.
Tubbs called for the community to continue its work in the wake of challenges. He urged attendees to commit themselves to servitude to uplift children, justice and those who are less fortunate.

(Photo by Omar Waheed.)
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway presented Wallace’s award for her lifetime dedication to public health and the founding of the Meadowood Health Partnership at 5740 Raymond Rd.
Wallace is a long-standing advocate and organizer for public health. She first moved to Madison in 1999 in the Meadowood neighborhood where she joined its neighborhood association. She continued to work to support families in need of food and medical care and was the first certified community health worker in Madison.
In 2016, Wallace created her own community health care office and organized the first “Stop the Violence, Save the Children” parade in Madison, which continues annually. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wallace played a large role in ensuring that marginalized communities received vaccines and supported families facing evictions.
In her speech, Wallace resonated with the same question Tubbs asks himself everyday, “What are you doing for others?”
“This question has been a guiding light behind the work we do at Meadowood Health Partnership,” Wallace said. “I have witnessed the profound strength that arises when we come together to address violence, health disparities and inequities that impact our most vulnerable communities.”
After the awards, and another musical performance, keynote speaker Bishop Vashti Mckenzie took the stage. Bishop McKenzie was elected as the 117th bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2000, becoming the first woman to take the role, and was appointed by President Obama to the White House Commission of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. She currently serves as the president of the National Council of Churches.
Vashti gave a powerful almost 40-minute sermon on systematic barriers to healthcare, stable housing, and the legacy of slavery in the United States and called for hope and solidarity.
“We live in a land of opportunity, but for far too many people, the legacy of being enslaved in colonial legalization has created profound social-economic disparities affecting their overall well-being and community resources. We live in a land with public education, but far too many children and schools are underfunded,” Bishop Vashti said. “We can still have hope for the future. And this is the day, Martin Luther King Junior Day, that we revisit our hopes, that we engage with our dreams and re-engage with the dream.”
The celebration ended with a call to action from the King Coalition to volunteer in the community.