(bright rhythmic music continues) - Welcome to "American Black Journal," I'm Stephen Henderson.

We're coming up on January 20th, which is the day this year that the nation will celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. As always, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is right at the center of those celebratory activities, here in the city of Detroit.

I talked with Yolanda Jack, she is the manager of community engagement at the Wright, about what's on tap for MLK Day 2025.

Yolanda Jack, always great to see you.

Welcome back to "American Black Journal," and Happy New Year.

- Happy New Year to you.

Thank you so much for havin' me back.

- Yes.

So it is that time of year again, we're comin' up on the Martin Luther King holiday.

I always think of the Wright when I think of that holiday 'cause it's plays such a central role in the way that we celebrate here in Detroit, and of course the museum's mission and its history are just perfectly aligned to help us think about Dr. King on his birthday.

So let's start with what the museum has planned for MLK Day 2025.

- We have a great deal of programming, a great breakfast day.

To start the day off, we will continue with the keynote of LaTosha Brown, a Q and A after that.

And then we will just go on into a full day of thinking about the men and women who have been engaged, not only just Dr. King, but the men and women who worked with him.

The men and women who took up the baton after Dr. King was assassinated, and how the continuation of that work, how the continuation of how we step into that, how the generations later have now taken up the baton and continue justice and equality work.

Thinking about how we are able to find that resilience within ourselves, the resolve to be committed to this kind of work, that we don't give up the spirit or the ghost as it might be for some people to feel like, well, it's over.

No, it's not over.

We still have work to do.

We still have an amazing opportunity to bring this world towards the beloved community that Dr. King talked about.

And so from the breakfast, where we will have the keynote by LaTosha Brown, we'll have a film that's focused on Myrlie and Medgar Evers, and there will be a Q and A with one of their daughters, Reena Evers, who will be here.

And then we'll have engagement in connection to not only the organizations that Dr. King was connected to, A Phi A, the Alphas will be here doing a presentation as well as a step show.

But we're also doing events and activities thinking about how those activities that Dr. King did, like for example the Montgomery bus boycott- - Yes.

- How that was happening, what was the role of the everyday people, and how we have a way to step into that story dramatically but also in a symbolic way of what we're doing today.

What actions, what activities do you engage in that can help keep that work to solidify, and also maintain, and also strengthen what has been done in terms of the foundation of equality work from previous generations.

- Yeah, yeah.

I always think that Detroit of course has a special relationship with Dr. King and his legacy, and that the Wright does a great job I think of highlighting that every year.

- Thank you, thank you.

We continue the day thinking about community engagement.

We're having a way that young people, families can create art and take home a piece of that art.

But the art will be combined together to make one whole thing, but then you walk away from it with that piece.

Just like how you would if we were at a gathering, when we come together and we have a job to do, what piece of that work is ours?

- Yeah.

- And so there's some significance and some symbolism in that.

Later on in the evening, we have the Soul of the Dream, where we'll have presentations and performances by community members, people who have graced our stages previously but also newcomers to our stage, to think about how we can really maintain the spirit and the soul of what Dr. King was thinking about.

And taking it beyond those older generations, the men and women who were our grandmothers and perhaps even great-grandparents, what they did in the '50s and '60s right to today, to 2025, to beyond 2025.

How will we continue, where are our generations, our children's, and even children's children gonna move the needle in terms of equality work.

So really, really, we're thinking about the connection, the legacy, but also our role and our responsibility as it were to keep moving forward.

- Yeah.

Okay, Yolanda Jack, again, always great to see you and great to have you here on "American Black Journal."

And we look forward to MLK Day 2025, at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History.

Thanks for being here with us on "American Black Journal."

- Thank you so much.