Brooklyn's largest public Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration unfolded on Monday as a full-day meditation on moral responsibility and equality, bringing together faith leaders, artists, elected officials and families to reflect on Dr. King’s enduring call for justice, compassion and collective care.
The celebration, hosted across multiple programs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, functioned as both a remembrance and a recommitment. From morning reflections to evening performances, the throughline was clear: Dr. King’s dream was never meant to be ceremonial. It was meant to be practiced.
It opened with a dignitary breakfast keynote delivered by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, who challenged attendees to resist the softening of King’s legacy. Barber emphasized that King’s work was rooted as much in economic justice, labor rights, and opposition to militarism as it was in racial equality. His message framed the celebration not as nostalgia, but as a moral inventory of where the nation stands now.
A prevailing theme for the day was economic justice, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying, "While this city is wealthy beyond measure, it is also deeply unequal. Some New Yorkers sleep in penthouses, others sleep on the sidewalk below."
New York Attorney General Letitia James told attendees that Dr. King was an architect of justice.
"And today, it's not just about remembrance, it's about living out his legacy. It's recommitting to his unwavering commitment to social and racial and economic justice, as well as uniting the world," she said.
Music provided one of the day’s emotional anchors, with a performance by The Fire Ensemble led by Troy Anthony. Blending gospel, classical and contemporary elements, the ensemble’s set felt less like a concert and more like a communal invocation, reminding the audience that sound has long been a vehicle for resistance, healing and hope.
Movement and memory converged in a solo dance performance by Khalia Campbell, presented in collaboration with Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE. Campbell’s restrained yet emotionally charged performance used stillness and repetition to evoke endurance, grief and resolve—an embodied meditation on what it means to inherit a struggle without being crushed by it.
The celebration also engaged King’s legacy through film and dialogue. BAM screened Just Mercy, the 2019 film starring Michael B. Jordan, set primarily in the 1980s and centered on attorney Bryan Stevenson’s fight against wrongful convictions and systemic injustice.
One of the most powerful moments of the day came with a live reading of The Drum Major Instinct. The reading drew from Dr. King’s 1968 sermon of the same name, confronting ego, power and the human desire for recognition. Performers included actor Jeffrey Wright, Mayor Mamdani, Attorney General James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
Original music by Dr. Philip Woodmore, paired with a choir composed of educators, activists, police officers, and members of the faith community, deepened the reading’s emotional resonance. The event concluded with a searching audience discussion facilitated by Bryan Doerries, inviting attendees to reflect not only on King’s words, but on their own responsibilities within the social fabric.
Civic leaders also offered remarks throughout the day, including Senator Chuck Schumer, Governor Kathy Hochul, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and City Council Member Crystal Hudson.
"I think I've learned throughout the years serving in Congress that while Jim Crow may be dead, he's still got some nieces and nephews that are alive and well. Wickedness in high places," Jeffries said. "And so, of course, we've got challenges all around us as they've released this unprecedented extremism on the American people. An attack on the economy, an attack on healthcare, an attack on nutritional assistance, an attack on our veterans, an attack on law-abiding immigrant families who we will always defend with who we are as Americans, an attack on the rule of law, of course, on the American way of life and democracy itself."
By day’s end, the message resonated clearly: Dr. King’s dream is neither abstract nor complete. It lives in action, in art, in accountability, and in community. The celebration did not attempt to resolve that tension—it honored it, inviting New Yorkers of all ages to carry the work forward, together.
