Missoula’s Annual MLK Jr. Day Community Celebration

Missoula’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration will honor the life and legacy of Dr. King by engaging our community in dialogue about race and justice through an in-person intergenerational celebration with a community social after. This event will feature leaders for racial justice, our annual Youth Art & Essay Contest inspired by an MLK quote, music performed by local artists, and calls to action from local youth leaders. Our Keynote Speaker will be Akilah Deernose, an Attorney for ACLU Montana. Akilah is passionate about building an inclusive community centered on the awareness of social justice issues and is dedicated to ensuring meaningful access to opportunity, justice, and equal rights.
Dr. King remains a central figure in our nation’s ongoing dialogue on race and equality. Through service, action, lecture, and art, the Missoula Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration examines the legacy of Dr. King, racial equity issues locally and nationally, and ways to bridge divides and resolve differences. Youth Keynote Speaker Lizzie Mills-Low will lead the youth call to action and share their perspective on Dr. King’s quote, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” These youth leaders will allow us to reflect on our intersectionality and the complexity of our identity within society. The event will help us resonate with Dr. King’s teachings and the issues we face right here in Missoula and across Montana. This year the Missoula MLK Day’s sponsors are EmpowerMT; Missoula Black Collective; Walla Walla University; Montana Ace Hardware; Missoulian; University of Montana; YWCA Missoula; Roxy Theatre ; All Smiles; Bill Schwanke; Black Coffee Roasting Company; Green Source; Emmaus Campus Ministry;  First Presbyterian Church; MCAT; Maclay Ranch, and Art & Image Design. The Missoula MLK Planning Committee includes Ivy Anderson, John Lund, Loni Neilson-Kattell, Murray Pierce, Tobin Miller Shearer, Paul Reneau, Dexter Royes, Rajiem Seabrook, Ja’ton Simpson, Heidi Wallace, and Chris Young-Greer.
The theme of this year’s MLK Jr. Day Community Celebration is Dr. King’s quote, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”