Page 6 - MLK 2022 Booklet

Greater Lansing Area MLK Holiday Commission Greater Lansing Area MLK Holiday Commission

Commission Chairpersons, Speakers and Themes • 1986-2004 Commission Chairpersons, Speakers and Themes • 2004-2022

Chairpersons/Themes Speakers Chairpersons/Themes Speakers
1-20-86 Willard K. Walker The Honorable Benjamin Gibson 1-17-05 Tracy Thomas Dr. Carolyn Ann Knight
“Living The Dream” U.S. District Judge “Where are We and When Will We Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA
Overcome?”
1-20-87 Willard Walker Mayor Johnny Ford
“Living The Dream” Kansas City, Kansas 1-16-06 Paul Elam Ms. Lynn Marie Smith
“Greatness Through Service” Michigan Federation of Teachers
1-18-88 Willard Walker Clarence N. Wood Rev. Joshua Nicholas Clayton
“Living The Dream” Vice President, External Affairs, National Urban League
Student at South West Christian Academy
1-16-89 Willard Walker Rev. Tyrone Crider 1-15-07 Willie Paulsen Mr. William Lucy
“Living The Dream” Assistant Pastor, Second Baptist Church, Columbus, OH “Making Justice & Equality A Reality” President of Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
1-15-90 Willard K. Walker Rev. Vashti M. McKenzie 1-21-08 Myron Freeman Dr. Mark Lamont Hill
“Living The Dream” Oak Street AME Church, Baltimore, MD “Injustice Everywhere Remains Professor, Temple University
1-19-91 Sherri Johnson C. Delores Tucker A Threat to Justice Everywhere”
“Vision Beyond The Dream Through Founder & President, Bethune-Dubois Institute, Inc 1-19-09 Myron Freeman Rev. Kenneth James Flowers
Principles of Racial Equality and “A Dream Comes Closer” Pastor, Greater New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit
Nonviolent Social Change” 1-18-10 Elaine Hardy and Terri L. Taylor Juanita Abernathy
1-20-92 Sherri Johnson Mr. Roy Roberts “Celebrating the Dream Through “Foot Soldier” of the Civil Rights Movement
“Vision Beyond The Dream” Manufacturing Manager, General Motors BOC Flint Unity and Service”
Automotive Division 1-17-11 Elaine Hardy Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
“The Legacy Lives on Through Action” Member, U.S. House of Representatives, Maryland’s 7th District
1-18-93 Rev. Michael Murphy Rev. Frederick Sampson
“Vision Beyond The Dream” Pastor, Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit 1-16-12 Elaine Hardy Judge Joe Brown
“I Am a Dreamkeeper” Jurist and Community Leader
1-17-94 Dorothy Dean Rev. Kenneth B. Smith
“Building Bridges of Unity Associate Professor of Ministry, Chicago Theological Seminary 1-21-13 Elaine Hardy Ms. Jacque Reid

and Understanding” “Moving the Dream Forward in Pursuit Journalist
of Truth, Justice and Compassion”
1-16-95 Dorothy Dean Rev. Michael Louis Pfleger 1-20-14 Elaine Hardy Mr. Ernest Gideon Green
“Empowering the Community to Pastor, Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit “Our Lives Begin to End the Moment We Member of the Little Rock Nine
Make a Difference: Help Someone” Become Silent about Things That Matter”
1-15-96 Dorothy Dean Rev. Dr. H. Beecher Hicks 1-19-15 Elaine Hardy Mr. Henry “Hank” Thomas
“Passing The Torch, Igniting The Adjunct Prof. and Member of the Board of Trustees of United “The Ultimate Measure of a Man is Not Member of the Freedom Riders
Vision of a New Generation” Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH and National Alumni Where He Stands in Moments of Comfort
President for Colgate Rochester School of Divinity and Convenience, but Where He Stands at
Times of Challenge and Controversy”
1-20-97 Judith Caldwell Dr. Susan D. Johnson-Cook
“Dreaming for the 21st Century” Senior Pastor, Bronx Christian Fellowship, New York, NY 1-18-16 Elaine Hardy Ambassador Andrew Young
“True Peace Is Not The Absence Of Tension; Minister, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,
1-19-98 Edward Thomas Rev. Bernard L. Richardson It Is The Presence Of Justice” Former U.S. Congressman and Former Mayor of Atlanta, GA
“Honoring Humanity With Humility” Dean of Howard University’s Andrew Memorial Chapel and
Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Counseling at Hartford Seminary 1-16-17 Elaine Hardy Myrlie Evers Williams
“We Must Learn to Live Together as Brothers Civil Rights Activist, Widow of Civil Rights Activist,
1-18-99 Edward Thomas Dr. Julia Hare or Perish Together as Fools” Medgar Evers
“Remember! Celebrate! Act... National Executive Director of The Black Think Tank 1-15-18 Elaine Hardy Dr. Diane Nash
A Day On, Not A Day Off!”
“We Must Accept Finite Disappointment, Freedom Rider, Activist, Founder of student nonviolent
1-19-00 Edward Thomas Rev. Dr. Delores Carpenter but Never Lose Infinite Hope” coordinating committee
“Remember! Celebrate! Act... Professor of Religious Education at Howard University 1-21-19 Elaine Hardy Governorn L. Douglas Wilder
A Day On, Not A Day Off!” School of Divinity “Be the Change You Want to See America’s First African American Elected Governor
1-15-01 Cheryl Lenoir Rev. Wendell Anthony in the World”
“Remember! Celebrate! Act... Pastor, Fellowship Chapel, Detroit 1-20-20 Elaine Hardy Congressman John Lewis
A Day On, Not A Day Off!” “There Comes a Time When Civil Rights Leader, Conscience of the House, Humanitarian,
1-21-02 Ron Nichols Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Thomas Silence is a Betrayal” “Foot Soldier” of the Civil Rights Movement
“Celebrate the Past With Reverence, Pastor, Eph’patha Full Gospel Baptist Church 1-18-21 Elaine Hardy Dr. Bernice A. King
Celebrate the Future With Courage and Hope” “Out of a Mountain of Despair, Chief Executive Officer of the King Center, Atlanta, GA,
a Stone of Hope” Daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1-20-03 Ron Nichols Rev. Dr. Ann F. Lightner-Fuller 1-15-22 Elaine Hardy Carlotta Walls LaNier, Ernest G. Green
“Unity, One World, One Nation, One People” Pastor, Mt. Calvary African Methodist Episcopal Church, Towson, MD
“In the Long Run, Justice Finally Must Dr. Terrence J. Roberts and Minnijean Brown Trickey
1-19-04 Tracy Thomas Rev. Alfonso Wyatt Spring from a New Moral Climate” Members of The Little Rock Nine
“Unity, One World, One Nation, One People” Vice President of Fund for The City of New York
6 • 37th Annual MLK Day of Celebration 37th Annual MLK Day of Celebration • 7