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2025 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration

The mission of the ASU Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee is to celebrate the legacy and the tenets set forth by Dr. King and his life examples of servant-leadership. Servant leadership is a practical philosophy which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions.

Servant-leadership encourages collaboration, trust, foresight, listening and the ethical use of power and empowerment. The ASU Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee encourages the continuation of Dr. King’s legacy all year long.

The year 2025 marks the 61st anniversary of Dr. King’s visit to Arizona where he championed the enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This momentous occasion occurred several months after the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who ardently supported the passage of the bill. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed this transformative legislation into law on July 2, 1964. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction and called for the end of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It ushered in a new era of equality and served as a catalyst for subsequent pivotal civil rights measures. These encompassed safeguards for voting rights, equitable access to housing and education, expanded immigration opportunities from Asia and other previously excluded regions, heightened rights for Native Americans and Tribal Nations, and comprehensive protections for individuals with disabilities. We are continuing to build upon this legacy.

Contest
MLK at the podium

Upcoming events

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Monday January 20, 2025

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.”

- I Have a Dream, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1963, Washington, D.C.

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

- Letter from the Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1963, Birmingham, AL

“Nonviolence can work. … Never before has such a far-reaching move been made.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1965, Chicago, IL

“Let’s all sit together, as human beings should.”

- Greensboro citizens
1960, Greensboro, NC

“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to get rid of segregation and discrimination in our nation. Now is the time to make democracy a reality.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1964, Tempe, AZ