JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thousands of people packed the Prime Osborn Convention Center Friday for the 37th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast -- the first time the city and local organizations held a joint event since 2019.
For the past five years, the city and local organizations such as the NAACP Jacksonville Branch, Jacksonville Urban League and Jax Chamber hosted dueling celebrations on the same day.
But Mayor Donna Deegan announced that the groups were coming back together this year for the breakfast, with the theme of “Love and Light: Strength through Unity,” inspired by King’s famous quote: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
When she spoke at the breakfast Friday, Deegan said she was overcome with emotion.
“I don’t know how many of you are feeling that, but I just, to look out and to see all of you here together, i just cannot tell you what hope that it swells in me,” Deegan said, drawing applause from the crowd.
Jolita Wain Wright said she honors King every year and even met him once when she was attending Spelman College in the 1960s. She said King invited the Spelman students to Morehouse College to talk about picketing at a department store that would not hire Black workers.
“He wanted us to go in the march and say, ‘Don’t buy here!’” Wright recalled. “So I was fortunate enough to actually be in the same room as the man.”
The unity breakfast program spotlighted young student essay winners and included remarks from Deegan and leaders from the NAACP, Urban League and Jax Chamber.
The essay winners were a highlight of the event.
Emerly Reid, an eighth-grade student, spoke of a world with no hate, just kindness.
“Every minute that we tear someone down with our mean words or actions, we could bring them up with kindness instead. Each second spent hating is a second wasted,” Reid said.“We need to stand together and be united. If we can love, share, and care for each other, this world would be a better place.”
June Kemp was at the breakfast Friday and said hearing from the youth gave her “wonderful hope.”
“The children are out future. I just want to be around to see them flourish and do more and be the best they can be,” Kemp said.
Week of service
Friday’s breakfast kicked off a week of service, where people are encouraged to volunteer in their communities in honor of King’s legacy.
A rally Saturday morning at the Ritz Theatre and Museum on North Davis Street will jump-start the week’s activities. Speakers include the mayor, Jacksonville City council members, and the CEO of United Way of Northeast Florida, which is partnering with the city for the volunteer events.
Participants can sign up for volunteer projects in Duval, Clay and Nassau counties. Learn more here
LIST: Calendar of events for MLK Week of Service
Feeding Northeast Florida will hold several food distribution events on Saturday to serve about 200 families in need with food and other supplies on a first-come, first-served basis. The locations are:
- Nassau County: 8 a.m. at the MLK Center in Fernandina Beach
- Duval County: 9 a.m. at the Schell Sweet Center in Newtown
- Duval County: 10 a.m. at the Eastside Terrace Apartments
- Duval County: 11 a.m. at the King Solomon Baptist Church in North Riverside
- Clay County: 11 a.m. at Vera Francis Hall Park
Other events this week include the MLK Day Grand Parade on Monday, which begins at 10 a.m. at Lot J near EverBank Stadium and winds through Downtown Jacksonville to the Prime Osborn Convention Center.
Following the parade is the MLK DAY at the Prime celebration from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday at the Prime Osborn Convention Center. The event features workshops, a drumline competition, a book fair, a kids zone and much more.
The event is free and open to the public, but visitors are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item.
