Celebration History

---

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration began in 1983, planned and sponsored by the Texas Union African-American Culture Committee (AACC), University of Texas, Austin. In 1993, AACC joined with Huston-Tillotson College and in 1994, the two colleges worked with community-based service organizations giving birth to the First Annual City-Wide MLK Celebration.

In June of 1995, the Austin Area Heritage Council was officially formed as a 501(c)3 to oversee planning. To create a more inclusive and family atmosphere, the Heritage Council reached out to non-African-American based organizations to participate and adopted the new title of “MLK Community Celebration.”

During the 1998 MLK Celebration, the Heritage Council united Austin’s business and religious leaders in the first race dialogue. The breakfast discussion was lead by keynote address speaker, Kweisi Mfume, director of the NAACP. We are extremely pleased that Austin recognized the importance of these talks and continues city race dialogues.

We have brought in the following speakers since 1994 to deliver the Keynote Address:

1994 - Dr. Ivan Van Sertima
1995 - Patricia Russell McCloud
1996 - Eric Dyson
1997 - Prophet James Giles
1998 - Kweisi Mfume
1999 - Maya Angelou
2000 - James Earl Jones
2001 - UNCF President & CEO William H. Gray, Tavis Smiley, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee
2002 - Reverend Bernice King
2003 - U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young
2004 - Susan Taylor