The MIT community gathers every February to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Institute began its annual celebration of Dr. King Jr. in 1975 with memorial activities and lectures by prominent speakers, including a keynote address by Coretta Scott King in 1994. Martin Luther King Day was designated an Institute holiday in 1976, a decade before its first official observance as a federal holiday.
Hosted by MIT President Sally Kornbluth, these celebrations feature remarks from MIT leadership, from each of the recipients of that year’s MLK Leadership Awards, from a staff speaker nominated by the community, and from a keynote speaker who is a prominent leader, nationally or in the local community, in accordance with Dr. King’s dual emphasis on global and local issues.
Clarence Williams (left) was awarded the MLK Lifetime Achievement Award by Karl Reid at MIT’s 2024 annual MLK celebration.
Previous MLK Annual Celebrations
| Year | Past keynote speakers | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Spencer Paysinger, televsision writer and producer, local-business entrepreneur, and former NFL linebacker. | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2024 | Dr. Janet Moses; civil rights activist, physician , and co-founder (with her husband, Robert Moses) of the Algebra Project. | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2023 | Dr. Angela Davis; feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2022 | Eddie S. Glaude Jr.; educator, author, political commentator, and public intellectual. | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2021 | Ijeoma Oluo; writer, speaker, internet yeller. “What we are fighting for is Black Joy.” | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2020 | Kevin Richardson, one of the Central Park Five: Speak Up, Have Courage, Confront Injustice | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2019 | Rahsaan Hall of the ACLU’s Massachusetts branch: America’s bank of justice is overdrawn but not bankrupt | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2018 | Wade Davis: Sustaining the struggle for equity: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2017 | Aprille Joy Ericsson: Discrimination affects us all | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2016 | Freeman A. Hrabowski, III: Truth & Power, Students Leading for Change | VIDEO, ARTICLE |
| 2015 | Hosted by President Rafael Reif (keynote speaker Rinku Sen was unable to attend): iActivism Individuals Empowering the Collective | ARTICLE, POSTER |
| 2014 | Michael Eric Dyson: Should human rights be determined at the ballot box? | |
| 2013 | Paula Williams Madison: Illuminating the Elements of Meritocracy. | |
| 2012 | Richard Tapia: Expanding the Possible | |
| 2011 | Roland Martin: Excellence is a Shared Path: Working Together for Justice and the Quality of Life | |
| 2010 | Gerry Hudson: Deploying Our Gifts for the Betterment of Humankind: What would Dr. King say about us? | |
| 2009 | Johnetta Cole: Yes We Must: Achieve Diversity Through Leadership | |
| 2008 | Rev. Dr. Ray Hammond ’75: Ensuring Educational Access: Our Challenge, Our Opportunity Ray Hammond | |
| 2007 | Ted Childs, Jr.: Maximizing Potential: The Congruence of Diversity and Excellence | |
| 2006 | Donna Brazile: Dr. King’s Unfinished Agenda: A Call for Economic & Social Justice in the 21st Century | |
| 2005 | Gwen Ifill: Justice and Equality for All: America’s Moral Dilemma | |
| 2004 | Julianne Malveaux: Rhetoric or Reality: Civil Right Under Seige | |
| 2003 | Julian Bond: Faces at the Bottom of the Well: Nightmare of Reality vs. Dr. King’s Dream | |
| 2002 | Tavis Smiley: From Dreams to Reality: The Illusion of Full Inclusion | |
| 2001 | Lani Guinier: Confronting the Gap: Building and Sustaining Inclusion | |
| 2000 | Shirley Ann Jackson: Engineering Bold Leadership for the 21st Century: A Blueprint for Full Participation in Academia, Government and Industry | |
| 1999 | Kweisi Mfume: Teaching and Learning: The Key to Full Inclusion | |
| 1996 | Dr. Julius L. Chambers: With Liberty and Justice for All |