Marching to the Dream
23rd Annual King County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration

• Video from the Celebration (real media)
• Humanitarian Award winner
  
• Essay Award winners
  
• Other elected officials present and entertainment
  

More than 700 people packed the Paramount Theatre in Seattle on January 14, 2010 to celebrate the accomplishments of men and women in this region who share Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy of "Marching to the Dream," the theme of King County's 23rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration.

After a stirring photographic montage video set to the words of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," King County Executive Dow Constantine stated his full commitment to implementing equity and social justice principles in county government. He recognized that: "At a time of economic challenges, when the gaps between the rich and the poor are widening, we must ensure that our actions and decisions are based on real data, not politics." He closed by asking attendees to join him "as we continue to do the work that would make Dr. King proud."

Congressman John Lewis, a legend of the Civil Rights era and a participant with Dr. King in shattering some of America's racial barriers, delivered today's keynote address. Lewis--who was a "Freedom Rider," a speaker at the historic 1963 March on Washington, and a survivor of the "Bloody Sunday" attack of peaceful protesters marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in March, 1965--said, "In a real sense, we all live in the same house. Dr. King was saying we are one people; we are one family; we are one house. Maybe we came to this country in different ships, but we're all in the same boat now. Never leave the house of 'the Beloved Community'....''

Lewis, who first heard Dr. King on the radio at the age of 15 and who went on to work closely with him, observed, "If it hadn't been for Martin Luther King teaching nonviolence, the way of law, the way of peace, the way of love, we wouldn't be where we are today."

Learn more about the MLK logo

• MLK logo site

For more information:

For more information, reasonable accommodations or alternate formats, please contact Bailey deIongh at bailey.deIongh@kingcounty.gov, 206-296-7652 or 206-296-7596 V/TTY.