40th Annual Aurora MLK Ceremony

The City of Aurora will continue a four-decades-long tradition of honoring the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 40th Annual MLK Ceremony on Monday, January 20, 2025, at 6 p.m. at East Aurora High School, 500 Tomcat Lane.

Founded by the late City of Aurora Youth Services Director Fred Rodgers, the late Alderwoman Scheketa Hart-Burns and other community leaders, the annual ceremony highlights the impact and influence of the slain Civil Rights leader.

A special tribute to both late founders will be a part of the 40th annual ceremony, along with remarks by dignitaries, youth and adult performances, and a presentation of the Donna J. Williams MLK Service Awards and the Services Above Self MLK Youth Awards.

This year’s keynote speaker is the incomparable Dr. Michael Eric Dyson.

Named one of the top 100 most influential Black leaders of our time, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is one of the nation’s most renowned professors, gifted authors, inspiring preachers, knowledgeable lecturers, and prominent public intellectuals.

The Centennial Chair at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Dyson also serves as the university’s Distinguished Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies in the College of Arts and Science and its Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Society in the Divinity School. r. Dyson has also taught at other elite universities, such as Georgetown University as a sociology professor, Brown University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University, and The University of Pennsylvania.

A noted author of 21 books, including literary works about luminaries such as Barack Obama, Tupac Shakur, and Malcolm X, Dr. Dyson has written extensively about Dr. King and penned two books about his life and legacy. In his acclaimed book I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr., Dyson challenges the common portrayals of King, offering a more nuanced perspective that highlights King's radical critique of systemic inequality, poverty, and militarism. His bestselling book April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death and How It Changed America explores the profound impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination on the United States and the world, shedding light on how it altered the trajectory of the Civil Rights Movement and the ongoing fight for racial justice

Through his scholarship and public speaking, Dyson seeks to keep King's legacy alive while urging society to embrace the full depth of King's transformative vision.

Dyson's legendary ascent – from welfare father to Princeton Ph.D., from church pastor to college professor, from a factory worker who didn’t start college until he was 21 -- may help explain why writer Naomi Wolf terms him “the ideal public intellectual of our time.”

The ceremony is free, but registration is required.

Host or Publisher City of Aurora | Mayor's Office