Past Programs

Since 1986, the first year of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Washington State University has held an annual program to mark Dr. King’s birthday. Our community celebrations consist of an arts showcase, the presentation of the Distinguished Service Award winners, and a keynote speech. In the past, the event has featured renowned keynote speakers including Martin Luther King III, Arun Gandhi, Benjamin Hooks, Morris Dees, Yolanda King, Cornel West, Diane Nash, Michael Eric Dyson, and Angela Davis.

MLK Timeline

• 1988-1989

  1988

  Keynote Speaker: Rev. Jerry Ramsey III of Bible Way Church of God in Christ in Everett, Washington

   1989

  Keynote Speaker: Rev. Calvin Butts III, executive minister of New York City’s Abyssinian Baptist Church

• 1990-1999

  1990

  Keynote Speaker: Judge Norma Smith-Huggins, first black woman judge in King County superior court

  1991

  Keynote Speaker: Rev. Samuel D. Proctor, pastor emeritus of Abyssinian Baptist Church in NYC

  Rev. Happy Watkins recited the 'I Have a Dream' speech.

  1992

  Keynote Speaker: Dr. Maxine Mimms, founder of the Tacoma branch of Evergreen State College

  1993

  Keynote Speaker: Alma Adams, North Carolina artist, educator, and civic leader, director of humanities division and chair of visual art and humane studies at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina

  1994

  Keynote Speaker: Dr. Julia Hare, Educational Psychologist and Motivational Specialist from San Francisco, CA

  1995

  Keynote Speaker: Martin Luther King III, son of MLK Jr., human rights advocate, community activist, and political leader

  1996

  Keynote Speaker: Patricia Russell-McCloud, attorney and motivational speaker (former chief of complaints branch at Federal Communications Commission

  1997

  Keynote Speaker: Dr. Frank Hale, Jr, former president of Oakwood College, AL.  Faculty at Ohio State, former Vice provost for Minority Affairs and social assistant to president at Ohio St.

  1998

  Keynote Speaker: Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi, co-director and co-founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in Memphis, TN

  1999

  Keynote Speaker: Patricia Russell-McCloud, attorney and motivational speaker, former chief of complaints branch at Federal Communications Commission

• 2000-2009

  2000

  Keynote Speaker: Dorothy Cotton, former education director for the SCLC

  2001

  Keynote Speaker: Benjamin Hooks, former NAACP executive director and King’s friend

  2002

  Keynote Speaker: Morris Dees, founder of Southern Poverty Law Center

  2003

  No information

  2004

  Keynote Speaker: Carl Mack, President of the Seattle chapter of the NAACP

  2005

  Keynote Speaker: Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.

  2006

  Keynote Speaker: Cornel West, activist and scholar

  2007

  Keynote Speaker: Leonard Pitts Jr., Pulitzer Prize winner

  2008

  Keynote Speaker: Eyes on the Prize documentarian

  2009

  Keynote Speaker: Henry Averhart, WSU doctoral student

• 2010-2019

  2010

  Keynote Speaker: Robert Bauman, Associate Professor, History, WSU Tri-Cities

  2011

  Keynote speaker: President Elson S. Floyd

  2012

  Keynote Speaker: Aaron Oforlea, WSU Assistant Professor, English Department

  2013

  Keynote Speaker: David J. Leonard, WSU Associate Professor/Chair Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies

  2014

  Keynote Speaker: Diane Nash, 1960s civil rights activist and Michael Eric Dyson, Georgetown sociology professor and media icon

  2015

  Keynote Speaker: Angela Y. Davis, scholar and activist

  2016

  Keynote Speaker: Jasiri X, community activist, social commentator and hip hop artist

  2017

  Keynote Speaker:  Charlene A. Carruthers, a black, queer feminist community organizer and writer

  2018

  Keynote Speaker: Shaun King, writer, journalist, activist and social entrepreneur

  2019

  Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, New York Times bestselling author, professor, and founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University

• 2020-Present

  2020

  Keynote Speaker: W. Kamau Bell, sociopolitical comedian, author, and director 

  2021

  Keynote Speakers: Bree Newsome Bass, American filmmaker, speaker, and activist from Charlotte, NC

  Dr. Anthony Jack, Harvard scholar, researcher, and author of 'The Privileged Poor: How Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students (2019)'

  Ijeoma Oluo, Seattle-based writer, speaker, and Internet Yeller, author of the New York Times Best-Seller, 'So You want to Talk about Race (2018)' and 'Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Power (2020)'

  Jamie Margolin, 19-year-old environmental activist, organizer, author, director, and screenwriter