Thousands of Minnesotans gather to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy

Racial justice allies must push back against attempts to erase Black history from classrooms and beyond, activist and author Marley Dias told a packed room during her keynote address Monday at the Twin Cities' annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday breakfast.

"We need to push the people who are on the edge, not within the center of the nucleus of change," said Dias, a Harvard University student who made headlines at age 11 for launching a drive to get books featuring Black girls into the hands of Black girls.

The annual breakfast at the Minneapolis Convention Center hosted the largest crowd since before the pandemic, with 2,500 people filling the exhibition hall.

Dias, 19, was the youngest-ever keynote speaker in the fundraiser's 34-year history. She spoke about the importance of education, seeing oneself in stories and the spread of book bans in a conversation moderated by Yohuru Williams, distinguished university chair and professor of history at the University of St. Thomas.

"To not see myself reflected meant that there was a gap between the way that students who did see themselves were experiencing reading, the classroom, libraries, and educational spaces, compared to young Black girls, young Black boys who cannot see themselves reflected in the books they read in school," Dias said.

While she had access to those stories at home, public education is for all, Dias said at the event sponsored by General Mills and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).

Her efforts have only increased in importance, Dias said, as leaders in some states move to limit lessons or books on race, gender and other topics.

The breakfast, which raises money to help send Black students in the Twin Cities to college, featured Minnesota leaders in the audience, including Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, state Attorney General Keith Ellison, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Laverne McCartney Knighton, area development director of the United Negro College Fund, told the crowd it was particularly inspiring to have a new generation of passionate young people continuing the legacy of King.

"Young voices of today are expressing a new kind of civil rights that is seen through the lens of economic inclusion and uprooting the structural racism that has so long been pervasive in our country," McCartney Knighton said.

Later in the morning, in St. Paul, a celebration of the holiday at the packed Ordway Center for the Performing Arts featured multiple performances.

Pastor Elijah McDavid III of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in north Minneapolis kicked off the event with a passionate speech acknowledging the tension of celebrating the holiday as injustices persist around the globe — noting King's fierce opposition to the Vietnam War and juxtaposing it with the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

A small group of protesters briefly interrupted the program, targeting Walz from the upper balconies.

Referring to the war in Gaza, they chanted, "Governor Walz, you can't lie, you're supporting genocide."

But the chants where quickly drowned out as Stephanie Burrage, the state's chief equity officer, took the lectern and countered the protesters by getting the crowd to give a standing ovation.

"We are going to raise our voices, just what we are doing right now, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.," she said.

At Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis, families with children crowded the recreation center gymnasium, taking in performances by community artists and assembling crafts under the tutelage of volunteers from Target. It was Powderhorn Park's 26^th year hosting the free event that draws people from across the metro.

Friends Sara Perry and Holli Janke of Buffalo, Minn., drove nearly an hour to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Minneapolis after Janke's employer encouraged her to do something self-enriching with the day off.

"I don't know if people really understand what [Martin Luther King Jr.] stood for, and the fact that he was murdered for what he believed in," Janke said. "It's important for us to get out, meet other people and be a part of diverse communities."

Makela Roberts-Virden of Shoreview attended with three generations of her family. Her biracial 2-year-old son isn't old enough to grasp King's place in history, she said, but she and her husband are beginning to introduce books to him about race and the disparate treatment of people throughout history.

"We just keep it real," Roberts-Virden said. "When we talk about events like this one and the reasoning behind it ... the fear of others, it's really what this day is about, fighting against that."

Staff writer Susan Du contributed to this report.