The City of Jacksonville, in collaboration with the Jacksonville Branch NAACP, the Jacksonville Urban League, and the JAX Chamber, invites the community to the 38th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast on Friday, January 17, at the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center. Breakfast begins at 7 a.m., with the program following at 8 a.m. and hosted by Dawn Lopez from Action News Jax and Anthony Austin from First Coast News. The theme for this year’s event, “Audacious Faith in the Future,” is drawn from Dr. King’s 1964 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech.
The program will feature a keynote address from Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of King: A Life, followed by a Fireside Chat with Isaiah M. Oliver, President of the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. A highlight of the event will be the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a hymn that has become deeply rooted in Jacksonville’s history.
Additionally, the event will celebrate the “2025 Tomorrow’s Leaders presented by VyStar Credit Union” winners, recognizing local students who exemplify Dr. King’s principles of service, leadership, and civic responsibility. This year’s competition introduced new artistic categories alongside the traditional essay submissions, with winners selected from essay, poetry, and visual arts submissions inspired by Dr. King’s quote, “We must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.”
The 2025 Tomorrow’s Leaders winners are:
High School – Poetry
- 1st Place: Kynlei Gibbs – 9th Grade, Riverside High School
- 1st Runner Up: Juriyah Gilmore – 9th Grade, Riverside High School
- 2nd Runner Up: Zohli Harris – 9th Grade, Riverside High School
Middle School – Visual Arts
- 1st Place: Diego Muñoz – 7th Grade, Westview K-8
- 1st Runner Up: Delilah Meza – 7th Grade, Landmark Middle School
- 2nd Runner Up: Amari Saint-Vil – 8th Grade, Matthew W. Gilbert Middle School
Elementary School – Essay
- 1st Place: Tyson Jones – 5th Grade, Biscayne Elementary Leadership Academy
- 1st Runner Up: Millionaire Paige – Andrew A. Robinson Elementary
- 2nd Runner Up: Skye Stuckey – 5th Grade, Biscayne Elementary Academy
Tickets for the event are available at JaxMLKBreakfast.com. Reserved tables for 10 must be purchased by January 10, 2025. Individual tickets are available for $70, with corporate tables priced at $700. Parking is free, but attendees are encouraged to arrive early.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.