MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST
01/15/2024
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Categories
No Categories01/14/23
4-6 p.m.
Welcome to the 39th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Breakfast! Join us at the Columbus Convention Center in the Battelle Grand Hall for a morning of celebration and inspiration. This in-person event honors the incredible legacy of Dr. King and his tireless efforts for justice, unity, peace and love. Come together with fellow community members to reflect on his teachings and the progress we’ve made. The breakfast will feature engaging speakers, uplifting performances, a plated breakfast, and opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals. Don’t miss this chance to commemorate the life of a true visionary who dedicated his life to help transform the world. You will want to be a part of this tribute to Dr. King, so we’ll see you there!
Tickets are also on sale at the King Arts Complex, 835 Mt. Vernon Avenue, Columbus, OH.
Donzaleigh Abernathy is the youngest daughter of the American Civil Rights Movement Co-Founder Rev. Dr. Ralph David and Mrs. Juanita Jones Abernathy. She was born in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement as her father and his best friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. established the nonviolent social movement which changed the course of American History. She and her siblings witnessed and participated in all of the major Civil Rights Movements and marches, including the Freedom Riders, the March On Washington, the Selma to Montgomery March for “The Right to Vote” and the Chicago housing demonstrations. She witnessed the integral decisions that helped shape American laws with the creation of the Civil Rights Bill, the Public Accommodations Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, Affirmative Action, the National Food Stamp Program, the Free Meal Program for Low Income Students and the creation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. In 2004, she authored, Partners To History, Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and the Civil Rights Movement which was nominated as one of the “Best Books for Young Adults” by the American Library Association. She was a contributing author to the Smithsonian Institute’s book In the Spirit of Martin. Her play Birmingham Sunday is a winner of the Tanne Foundation Award.
Ms. Abernathy has been the keynote speaker for the National Association of Women Judges, the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association, the Annual Unemployment Appeals Court Judicial Conference, the NGO United Nations Women’s Federation for World Peace and the 2016 Democratic National Convention’s African American Caucus. She has spoken for the Senate and Congressional Faith in Politics Civil Rights Pilgrimage, Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s and Elihu Harris’ Lecture Series – “Daughters of the Civil Rights Movement”. She has lectured at Harvard University Law School, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Pepperdine University’, Michigan State University, Morgan State University, University of Utah, Weber State University, Virginia Military Institute, University of Rochester, University of Memphis, Mary Washington University and more. Through the Teaching American History Program, she has taught teachers how to teach African American and Civil Rights History. She has lectured on Implicit Bias for President Obama’s organization, Organizing for Action.
At the 45th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott Celebration, she was given the honor of introducing Mrs. Rosa Parks in one of her last public appearances. She was one of the leading actors in Warner Brothers’ Gods and Generals. She starred as the leading lady in the Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning HBO film, Don King – Only In America, the Emmy and Golden Globe winning Miss Evers Boys, in NBC’s Golden Globe nominated The Tempest, and NBC’s DGA Award winning movie, Murder in Mississippi. She has starred in many independent films including, 59 Seconds.
She starred on the Lifetime Television’s acclaimed series, Any Day Now. She recurred on the series Shooter, Suits, The Walking Dead, Lincoln Heights, Commander in Chief, EZ Streets and Dangerous Minds. She has starred in several television movies The Sky’s on Fire, Abducted – A Father’s Love, Ned Blessing, Grassroots and has guest starred on Chicago PD, the Vanity Fair series Decades, Agents of Shield, Shameless, CSI, House, Judging Amy, 24, Chicago Hope and NYPD Blue. Along with her husband Dar Dixon, they created, directed and produced the documentary Saint Francis Medical Center. For the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus at the National Black Arts Festival, and she wrote and starred in Billy Strayhorne’s Lush Life. She wrote, directed and starred in The Women of Niagara for the National Park Service of Harper’s Ferry Centennial Celebration of the Niagara Movement and WEB DuBois.
For the University of Utah at Park City and the grandson of John Brown, she wrote and performed with Dar Dixon, John Brown – The Abolitionist. She is a founding Trustee of the New Visions Foundation/Coalition for Engaged Education, and a former Vice President of the Board and New Roads Schools. She was a spokesperson for the CDC’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Program and for Amnesty International.
She currently volunteers for Juveniles in the Los Angeles County Justice System.