The King Coalition and other members of the community will be hosting a number of community events that will be taking place in Madison this weekend to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It all kicks off tomorrow night at the annual MLK Free Community Dinner at Gordon Commons.
“Madison has some of the starkest racial disparities in the nation, but I think our community is genuine in wanting to confront them, and I think the King holiday is an important time to reflect on why these inequities exist, and for each of us to commit or recommit to doing something about it,” longtime King Coalition co-chair Edward Lee tells Madison365.
The King Coalition was established in the fall of 1985 as a community group to plan the official City of Madison and Dane County observances of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. The Coalition brings people from all walks of life together in the spirit of true brotherhood and sisterhood to commemorate the life and accomplishments of this renowned leader of the civil rights movement. King Coalition events encourage the people of Dane County to reaffirm their commitment to building a just community out of our racial, religious and economic diversity.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18th
◆ FREE COMMUNITY DINNER: The community is invited to attend the King Coalition’s 32nd Annual Free Community Dinner on Friday, Jan. 18, 4:30-7 p.m., at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Gordon Dining and Event Center, 770 W. Dayton St., on the 2nd Floor. 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 19TH
◆THE 2ND ANNUAL MLK COLLEGE READINESS AND SUCCESS SUMMIT
Edgewood College will host the Second Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. College Readiness & Success Summit this Saturday, Jan. 19, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
The summit’s festivities include professional headshots, a workshop on the college search and financial aid process, a student panel during lunch, three breakout sessions and a raffle. Edgewood College partnered with The College Station, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Madison Alumni Chapter, and the Urban League of Greater Madison to make the summit a worthwhile event for both students preparing for college as well as their families
.
◆THE MLK FORUM FOR SOCIAL ACTION
The MLK Forum for Social Action will take place Saturday, January 19 at 4 p.m. at the Middleton Performing Arts Center at Middleton High School. It is sponsored by a number of school districts around Dane County, including Madison, Middleton, Mt. Horeb and Oregon, as well as Edgewood College. Madison365 is the media sponsor of the event.
This will not be a celebration of MLK the “Dreamer” but an event that will reflect on MLK’s Revolution of Values and the outcome of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Special guests will include Tamera Stanley, Percy Brown Jr., Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, and Charles Brown. The event will feature artistic performances from GK For Life, a joint dance team from Glacier Creek and Kromrey Middle Schools, as well as spoken word artist Dom Ricks, who graduated from the UW’s First Wave program and is now Dean of Students at Glacier Creek.
◆THE 33rd ANNUAL MLK WOMEN IN FOCUS INC. “I HAVE A DREAM” BALL
Women In Focus Inc., a local non-profit dedicated to supporting the education of students of color in the Madison community, will be hosting their annual “I Have A Dream” Ball on Saturday, Jan. 19, 5:30 p.m., at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.
Since its formation in 1983, Women in Focus has awarded over $500,000 worth of scholarships for students of color in the Madison area who are pursuing college and continuing education degrees. Some scholarships also are granted to adult students returning to college after a hiatus for various reasons.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 20th
◆THE 38th ANNUAL MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. OUTSTANDING YOUNG PERSON BREAKFAST will take place Sunday, Jan. 20, 8-10 a.m. at Edgewood High School, 2219 Monroe St.
For 35 years, the Urban League has hosted one of the largest family observances of the King Holiday in Wisconsin. The Outstanding Young Person Breakfast, held on Sunday during the King Holiday weekend, attracts more than 900 youth, families, volunteers and community leaders. Middle and high school students are presented with the Outstanding Young Person Award. Students are nominated by schools from all across Dane County based on their academic performance, community service, and extra-curricular participation.
◆ MLK ECUMENICAL SERVICE: An Ecumenical Worship Service will be held Sunday, Jan. 20, 4:30 p.m. at Lake Edge Lutheran Church, 4032 Monona Drive. Clergy from several different faiths – including Pastors Everett Mitchell, Mae Jean Zelle,
Katya Ouchakof – will participate in this nondenominational service. Hosted by the King Coalition.
MONDAY, JANUARY 21st
◆ YOUTH DAY OF SERVICE 2019 will be held at the Madison Municipal Building, 215 MLK Jr. Blvd.
Dr. King once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?” Each year, Americans across the country answer that question by coming together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities. The MLK Youth Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, the President’s national call to service initiative. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems.
◆ Wisconsin Public Radio is a proud sponsor of the STATE OF WISCONSIN’S 39TH ANNUAL “TRIBUTE AND CEREMONY” honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that will take place Monday, Jan. 21, noon at the State Capitol Rotunda in downtown Madison.
Rita Coburn, a Peabody and Emmy Award-Winning director, writer, and producer with nearly four decades in radio, television and film, will highlight Wisconsin’s 39th State Tribute and Ceremony honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Themed “Truth Is Marching,” this annual public event is free and open to the public and is the oldest official MLK commemoration in the nation. The event will once again be broadcast live on Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television and will celebrate in words and music the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
◆ 34TH ANNUAL CITY OF MADISON AND DANE COUNTY OBSERVANCE OF THE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HOLIDAY will feature keynote speaker Cheryl Brown Henderson.
The King Coalition is pleased to welcome Cheryl Brown Henderson as keynote speaker for the 34th annual King Holiday Observance. Ms. Brown Henderson is one of the three daughters of the late Reverend Oliver L. Brown who filed suit on behalf of his children against the local board of education. Their case became known as the landmark; Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Cheryl has gone on to a distinguished career as a civil rights advocate and educator. She has been invited to the White House on several occasions, and in 2004 she introduced then-President Bush at the grand opening of Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas.
The City-County Observance will take place on Monday, January 21, 6-7:30 p.m. at the Overture Center for the Arts in downtown Madison. This year’s observance continues the popular tradition of kicking-off with a “Freedom Songs Sing-in” from 5-5:30 p.m. in the Rotunda of the Overture Center. The City-County Observance will then take place beginning at 6 p.m. in the Overture Center’s Capitol Theater. The Observance will also feature presentation of the Madison-Dane County Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award by Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Paul Soglin.
