Page 6 - MLK 2021 Booklet Clickable

Greater Lansing Area MLK Holiday Commission Greater Lansing Area MLK Holiday Commission
Commission Chairpersons, Speakers and Themes • 1986-2003 Commission Chairpersons, Speakers and Themes • 2004-2021

Chairpersons/Themes Speakers Chairpersons/Themes Speakers

1-20-86 Willard K. Walker The Honorable Benjamin Gibson 1-19-04 Tracy Thomas Rev. Alfonso Wyatt
“Living The Dream” U.S. District Judge “Unity, One World, One Nation, One People” Vice President of Fund for The City of New York
1-20-87 Willard Walker Mayor Johnny Ford 1-17-05 Tracy Thomas Dr. Carolyn Ann Knight
“Living The Dream” Kansas City, Kansas “Where are We and When Will We Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA
Overcome?”
1-18-88 Willard Walker Clarence N. Wood 1-16-06 Paul Elam Ms. Lynn Marie Smith
“Living The Dream” Vice President, External Affairs, National Urban League
“Greatness Through Service” Michigan Federation of Teachers
1-16-89 Willard Walker Rev. Tyrone Crider Rev. Joshua Nicholas Clayton
“Living The Dream” Assistant Pastor, Second Baptist Church, Columbus, OH Student at South West Christian Academy
1-15-90 Willard K. Walker Rev. Vashti M. McKenzie 1-15-07 Willie Paulsen Mr. William Lucy
“Living The Dream” Oak Street AME Church, Baltimore, MD “Making Justice & Equality A Reality” President of Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
1-19-91 Sherri Johnson C. Delores Tucker 1-21-08 Myron Freeman Dr. Mark Lamont Hill
“Vision Beyond The Dream Through Founder & President, Bethune-Dubois Institute, Inc “Injustice Everywhere Remains Professor, Temple University
Principles of Racial Equality and A Threat to Justice Everywhere”
Nonviolent Social Change” 1-19-09 Myron Freeman Rev. Kenneth James Flowers
1-20-92 Sherri Johnson Mr. Roy Roberts “A Dream Comes Closer” Pastor, Greater New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit
“Vision Beyond The Dream” Manufacturing Manager, General Motors BOC Flint 1-18-10 Elaine Hardy and Terri L. Taylor Juanita Abernathy
Automotive Division “Celebrating the Dream Through “Foot Soldier” of the Civil Rights Movement
Unity and Service”
1-18-93 Rev. Michael Murphy Rev. Frederick Sampson
“Vision Beyond The Dream” Pastor, Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit 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
1-17-94 Dorothy Dean Rev. Kenneth B. Smith
“Building Bridges of Unity Associate Professor of Ministry, Chicago Theological Seminary 1-16-12 Elaine Hardy Judge Joe Brown
and Understanding” “I Am a Dreamkeeper” Jurist and Community Leader
1-21-13 Elaine Hardy Ms. Jacque Reid
1-16-95 Dorothy Dean Rev. Michael Louis Pfleger “Moving the Dream Forward in Pursuit Journalist
“Empowering the Community to Pastor, Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit of Truth, Justice and Compassion”
Make a Difference: Help Someone” 1-20-14 Elaine Hardy Mr. Ernest Gideon Green
1-15-96 Dorothy Dean Rev. Dr. H. Beecher Hicks “Our Lives Begin to End the Moment We Member of the Little Rock Nine
“Passing The Torch, Igniting The Adjunct Prof. and Member of the Board of Trustees of United Become Silent about Things That Matter”
Vision of a New Generation” Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH and National Alumni 1-19-15 Elaine Hardy Mr. Henry “Hank” Thomas
President for Colgate Rochester School of Divinity “The Ultimate Measure of a Man is Not Member of the Freedom Riders
1-20-97 Judith Caldwell Dr. Susan D. Johnson-Cook Where He Stands in Moments of Comfort
“Dreaming for the 21st Century” Senior Pastor, Bronx Christian Fellowship, New York, NY and Convenience, but Where He Stands at
Times of Challenge and Controversy”
1-19-98 Edward Thomas Rev. Bernard L. Richardson
“Honoring Humanity With Humility” Dean of Howard University’s Andrew Memorial Chapel and 1-18-16 Elaine Hardy Ambassador Andrew Young
Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Counseling at Hartford Seminary “True Peace Is Not The Absence Of Tension; Minister, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,
It Is The Presence Of Justice” Former U.S. Congressman and Former Mayor of Atlanta, GA
1-18-99 Edward Thomas Dr. Julia Hare 1-16-17 Elaine Hardy Myrlie Evers Williams
“Remember! Celebrate! Act... National Executive Director of The Black Think Tank
A Day On, Not A Day Off!” “We Must Learn to Live Together as Brothers Civil Rights Activist, Widow of Civil Rights Activist,
or Perish Together as Fools” Medgar Evers
1-19-00 Edward Thomas Rev. Dr. Delores Carpenter 1-15-18 Elaine Hardy Dr. Diane Nash
“Remember! Celebrate! Act... Professor of Religious Education at Howard University “We Must Accept Finite Disappointment, Freedom Rider, Activist, Founder of student nonviolent
A Day On, Not A Day Off!” School of Divinity but Never Lose Infinite Hope” coordinating committee
1-15-01 Cheryl Lenoir Rev. Wendell Anthony 1-21-19 Elaine Hardy Governorn L. Douglas Wilder
“Remember! Celebrate! Act... Pastor, Fellowship Chapel, Detroit “Be the Change You Want to See America’s First African American Elected Governor
A Day On, Not A Day Off!” in the World”
1-21-02 Ron Nichols Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Thomas 1-20-20 Elaine Hardy Congressman John Lewis
“Celebrate the Past With Reverence, Pastor, Eph’patha Full Gospel Baptist Church “There Comes a Time When Civil Rights Leader, Conscience of the House, Humanitarian,
Celebrate the Future With Courage and Hope” Silence is a Betrayal” “Foot Soldier” of the Civil Rights Movement
1-18-21 Elaine Hardy Dr. Bernice A. King
1-20-03 Ron Nichols Rev. Dr. Ann F. Lightner-Fuller
“Unity, One World, One Nation, One People” Pastor, Mt. Calvary African Methodist Episcopal Church, Towson, MD “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.

6 • 36th Annual MLK Day of Celebration Luncheon 36th Annual MLK Day of Celebration Luncheon • 7