Infinite Hope
Monday, Jan. 20
Doors open 8 a.m.
Continental breakfast 8-8:30 a.m.
Program 8:30 a.m.
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
50 East Freedom Way at The Banks
More information at freedomcenter.org.
As the nation commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Dr. King’s life and legacy will be honored with a series of events at The Banks.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center hosts a morning of music, reflection and call to action in celebration of King's life. The Center will also host the MLK Fifth Third Community Day on Monday, with free admission for all and special programming.
The 2025 King Legacy Celebration includes a continental breakfast, with speakers and musical performances.
Hosted by Courtis Fuller, the event includes a keynote address by Dr. Wendy Ellis.
Ellis is the inaugural director of the Institute for Racial, Ethnic and Socioeconomic Equity and the founding director of the Center for Community Resilience at George Washington University. In this role, she shapes infrastructure to support impactful research dedicated to eradicating racial, ethnic and socioeconomic inequity. In less than 20 years, she has inspired a global “resilience movement” by developing tools, frameworks and research methods to address systemic inequities that contribute to social and health disparities.
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
The Freedom Center program also includes music from Dr. Lisa Moore, director of Music Ministry, A.M.E. Zion Church and Elementz, the city’s Cincinnati’s premier Hip Hop Cultural Art Center
The King Legacy Celebration is followed by the 50th anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom March. The march begins outside the Freedom Center at 10:30 a.m. This year’s theme is “Jubilee for MLK’s Beloved Community” and draws from Dr. King's 1960 Freedom Jubilee speech in Pittsburgh, where he celebrated the spirit of renewal and the ongoing fight for equality. This year, the march includes a segment for children, “Land of Superheroes,” presented by the Bootsy Collins Foundation Greater Cincinnati, to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King through music and creative expression.
Among those joining in the march will be representatives from YWCA Greater Cincinnati, who invite supporters to wear persimmon and stand in solidarity.
The Freedom Center will be open, with free admission, on Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with activities and programs, including the Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. blood drive. All Freedom Center donors will receive an MLK T-shirt, Hoxworth joggers, PLUS a bonus eGift card. To schedule an appointment, call (513) 451-0910 or visit hoxworth.org/mlk. The event is led by Hoxworth Blood Center, University of Cincinnati, in partnership with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
Other programs include an “Own Your Home! Free Homeownership Workshop,” story times, performances by rapper Noah Hawes and DJ De’Ariss Hope, and a children's activity station in the Harriet Tubman Theater.