About the Symposium Symposium Schedule Event Submission Past Keynote Speakers

MLK Keynote Speakers

Two speakers stand on a stage in front of a backdrop covered with repeating “M” logos, with wooden chairs and a large floral arrangement in the foreground; a screen above shows the same scene.

Talks by leaders and luminaries across culture and public life

Since 1987, the MLK Symposium Keynote Memorial Lecture has featured religious leaders, artists, public servants, and educators, to connect more deeply with King’s words and actions.

Positions and titles of the speakers listed below reflect their status at the time of address.

A bald man in a dark ceremonial-style robe with gold patterns gestures with his raised right hand while speaking, with a microphone visible in front of him and a dim, dark background behind.

2026

Unbowed and Unbroken: The Enduring Struggle for Justice

Donzaleigh Abernathy – Godchild of Dr. King, Civil Rights Activist, and Award-winning Actress and Writer

Derrick Johnson – 19th President and CEO of the NAACP

With a special performance by the Detroit Youth Choir and Mama Söl

View the 2026 event recording

View the 2026 program booklet

Donzaleigh Abernathy speaks to the audience in a red pantsuit while Derrick Johnson listens

A woman in a dark graduation gown stands on stage with hands clasped in a prayer gesture, smiling, in front of a purple backdrop patterned with gold “M” logos.

2025

Restless Dissatisfaction: An Urgent Call for the Pursuit of Justice and Equality

Erika Alexander – Actress, Writer, Producer, Entrepreneur, and Activist

With a special performance by Cherise Morris

View the 2025 event recording

2024

Transforming the Jangling Discords of Our Nation into a Beautiful Symphony

Michelle Alexander – Best-selling Author, Legal Scholar, Social Justice Advocate, and Columnist

With a special musical performance by BLKBOK

View the 2024 event recording

Smiling person with short curly dark hair wearing a dark blazer and a purple patterned scarf, seated in front of out-of-focus green bamboo stalks.

Four panelists seated in chairs around a small round table with microphones and water bottles on a university auditorium stage, with a blue backdrop patterned with repeating “M” and “MK” logos.

2023

(R)EVOLUTION: From Segregation to Elevation

Dr. Aletha Maybank – Physician, Chief Health Equity Officer, and Senior Vice President of the American Medical Association

Edward Buckles – First-Time Director and Best New Documentary Director Winner of The Albert Maysies Award for the documentary, Katrina Babies

Jalen Rose – Founder and President of the Board of Directors for the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, ABC/ESPN Analyst, Former U-M and NBA Basketball Star, Civil and Human Rights Awardee, Philanthropist, and Author

View the 2023 event recording

2022

This is America

Presented virtually

Dr. Rashad Richey – University Professor, Lecturer, Emmy nominated Broadcaster and Political/Social Analyst

Maria Hinojosa – Mexican-American Journalist, Anchor and Executive Producer Civil and Human Rights Awardee, Philanthropist, and Author

View the 2022 event recording

Video call grid showing three speakers: Dr. Rashad Richey in a city backdrop, Maria Hinojosa indoors, and Dr. Patricia Coleman-Burns at home, with University of Michigan logos on the screen.

Three-person video call layout with Stephen Ward, Gloria House, and Malik Yakinli in separate panels, each in an indoor room, with name labels and a dark background showing large gold letters.

2021

Where Do We Go From Here

Presented virtually

Dr. Gloria House, Poet, Essayist, Educator, and Human Rights and Community Activist

Malik Yakini, Educator, Farmer, Food Justice Advocate and Guitarist

View the 2021 event recording

2020

the (mis)education of US

Angela Davis, Political Activist, Author, and Professor

View the 2020 event recording

Smiling speaker with gray hair standing behind a carved wooden lectern, wearing a dark top and blue patterned vest, speaking into a microphone against a dark stage backdrop.

2019

Unravel

Tim Wise – Author and Scholar

Julia Putnam – Detroit Principal and Writer

View the 2019 event recording

2018

The Fierce Urgency of Now

Hill Harper – Actor, Author, Philanthropist

View the 2018 event recording

A speaker in a blue jacket gestures while addressing an audience in a large hall, with a large screen behind him showing a stage scene with a lectern and people.

A person seated in a dark leather armchair, wearing a white top and pink pants, gesturing with both hands during a discussion against a deep red background.

2017

Sounds of Change

Amy Goodman – Journalist, Activist, Author

Issa Rae – Actress, Comedian, Writer, Director, Producer

View the 2017 event recording

2016

#WhoWillBeNext

Nontombi Naomi Tutu – Race and Gender Justice Activist

View the 2016 event recording

A person stands behind an ornate wooden lectern at a formal indoor venue, speaking into two microphones while wearing a patterned traditional robe and glasses.

A man in a dark suit speaks at a podium, facing left with hands gesturing, with a microphone visible in front of him against a blurred auditorium background.

2015

Unity Not Uniformity

Marc Lamont Hill – Journalist, Scholar, Author and Activist

2014

Power, Justice, and Love Heal the Divide

Harry Belafonte – Singer, Songwriter, Actor and Social Activist

Smiling bald man in a gray suit stands at a wooden podium with two microphones, speaking under warm stage lighting.

An older man in a gray suit and striped red tie speaking at a lectern, gesturing with both hands while a microphone is positioned in front of him against a dark background.

2013

50 Years Later: Revolution of the Dream

Morris Dees – Civil Rights Activist and Founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center

2012

Building On The Past To A New Generation Of Activism

Michelle Norris – Author and Award-winning Journalist

A woman in a bright pink blouse speaks at a wooden podium with two microphones in a theater setting, raising one hand as she gestures.

A person in a dark suit with a bright red blouse speaks at a podium with an attached microphone, looking toward the audience; the podium front shows an engraved date reading 1913.

2011

We The People…Realizing The Dream?

Shirley Sherrod – Civil rights activist and former Georgia rural state director for the United States Department of Agriculture

2010

I Am, Was, and Always Will Be A Catalyst For Change

Gwen Ifill – Moderator & Managing Editor of PBS’s “Washington Week” & Co-anchor for the “PBS Newshour”

A woman in a bright blue blazer smiles while speaking at a podium, with a microphone and stand in front of her, lit by warm stage lighting.

2009 - A Dreamer, But Not the Only One

Julian Bond - Former Chairman of the NAACP

2008 - Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere

Louis Gossett Jr. - Academy Award-winning Actor, Founder of the Eracism Foundation

2007 - Building the Beloved Community

Kweisi Mfume - Executive Director, NAACP

2006 - A Time to Break Silence

Anna Deavere Smith - Professor, Playwright, Actress

2005 - But We Have Not Learned the Simple Art of Living Together

Henry G. Cisneros - Former Secretary – US Dept. of Housing & Urban Development

2004 - Still Separate? Still Unequal? Brown Versus Board of Education Fifty Years Later

Lani Guinier - Harvard Law Professor and Author

2003 - We Must Be the Change We Wish to See in The World

Grace Lee Boggs - Detroit Activist and Author

2002 - Honoring, Challenging, and Living

Dr. Benjamin Carson - Neurosurgeon and Medical School Alumnus

2001 - Commitment + Renewal

Edward James Olmos - Actor and Humanitarian

2000 - MLK 2K: Shattering Barriers Transcending Borders

Henry Louis Gates Jr. - Director of African American Studies, Harvard University

1999 - On the Verge of a New Millennium…Stand!

Nikki Giovanni - Poet, Author and Essayist

1998 - Why We Can't Wait

Cornel West - Professor of African American Studies and Religion, Harvard University

1997 - Campaign for a Unified Community of Justice

Mary Frances Berry - Chairperson of the US Commission on Civil Rights

1996 - Affirmation Through Action: The Challenge Continues

Jocelyn Elders - US Surgeon General

1995 - Conflict and Communities: The Struggle for Racial Justice

Benjamin Hooks -Executive Director of the NAACP

1994 - "American Culture" or "American -- the Multicultural?" The Challenge of the 21st Century

Charles Long - Director for Black Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

1993 - From Indifference and Inequality to justice and Reconciliation

Rep. Shirley Chisholm of New York

1992 - The Path to Empowerment: Redefining Our Cultures

Maulana Karenga - Director of Black Studies, California State University, Long Beach

1991 - King

Adelaide Sanford - Regent, State University of New York

1990 - King's Legacy: Our Unfinished Agenda

Cesar Chavez - President, United Farm Workers Union & Kevin Locke, Traditional Native American Dancer and Musician, Lakota Nation

1989 - Enlightenment, Empowerment and Equity: A Challenge of the King Legacy

Mayor Willie Brown Jr. of San Francisco

1988

Gov. Douglas Wilder of Virginia

1987

Rep. William Gray III of Pennsylvania

1986

Rev. Richard Gilmore of the Ypsilanti Second Baptist Church