The Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Rally invites our community to join them in person on Monday, January 19, 2026, for the 31st Annual MLK Youth Rally. The event will take place in the Centennial Room of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Student Union (14th & R Street) as well as virtually for statewide and international audiences.
Organized annually by a diverse group of K–12 scholars, the Rally continues the mission of the planning committee: “…promotion of the life and dream of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and local civil rights leader Dr. Leola Bullock through positive youth action.”
This year’s theme, “The Audacity to Walk Together In Love,” is inspired by Dr. King’s 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech – his call for dignity, equality and freedom for the spirit. The theme highlights the courage required to act, overcome challenges and build the beloved community through love in action.
Lincoln Community Foundation is honored to serve as a fiscal sponsor for the Rally and recently sat down with Lead Advisor, Peter Ferguson, and 2026 Planning Committee Member, Addison, to learn more about this powerful, local event.
Can you share a little bit about the history behind the Rally?
Peter
The Rally started 31 years ago. It was the vision of Dr. Leola Bullock, who was a late civil rights leader in Lincoln and greater Nebraska. Her vision for the Rally (as it’s known now) was not just about Rev. Dr. King, Jr. as a person, but his vision to spread diversity, equity and multicultural appreciation beyond a textbook that often just quotes him as a great orator or a “I Have a Dream” hashtag.
Prior to its inception, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was honored, the community would recognize the day with events and awards, but Dr. Bullock was the person who raised the question, “Where are the young people’s voices?”
She felt that the youth needed to be familiar with Rev. Dr. King, Jr. but also the facts, as the folks who walked alongside Rev. Dr. King, Jr. were, and are less and less in our presence, and available to tell the story. She called for members of the community to galvanize and put forth the first youth rally.
The participants marched from the County/City Building to the state Capitol and read Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. For the next several years, Dr. Bullock, Jareldine Mays, Dr. Jake Kirkland, Annie Stokes and others acted as sponsors and recruited students for the annual event.
In 2019, we were celebrating our 25th anniversary when we shifted and had the Rally at the Student Union on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Campus. The next year Covid hit, and we had to pivot to online events.
Many may have seen this as disappointing, but it provided an opportunity in a time of greatest need to broaden our audience via (what we didn’t know then) would be a global broadcast and the Union and broadcast has since remained. From our time when the Call to Action program was held in the Warner Chamber to its current home, the Centennial Room at the Union, we have experienced standing room only audiences and attendees from across the state and beyond.
The Rally is a scholar-led, audacious community experience. Both in-person and virtual participants can come together to take meaningful steps to “Walk Together” in love.
Addison, how did you first hear about the Rally? What inspired you to get involved?
Addison
Peter emailed me about being a part of the Rally several years ago. This was still post-Covid when the event wasn’t in-person yet. At first, I was really nervous about speaking in front of all those people. I took excerpts out of “We Shall Overcome” for my speech and made it my own.
What really inspired me to continue to come back each year is the community I’ve built with the advisors and the students. It’s like a second family and it’s inspiring to hear their experiences and see how they put their personality into their speeches. Their work is powerful and it encourages me to really see the full person – not just who they are on the surface.
For the past few years, I’ve been writing everything by myself. Last year, I performed a spoken word poem. Amanda Gorman has been an inspiration. Her performances have really helped me with ideas. This year I think it’s even more personal, since it’s my final rally before I go to college. I want to leave people with something and really move them.
How many scholars are typically involved and what do you do to prepare each year?
Peter
The Planning Committee ranges between 6-14 members and collectively the crowd is going to see anywhere up to 50-70 scholars that may have roles in the performance the day-of.
Addison
We have about four months of prep, and we meet once a month on Sunday. At the beginning, it’s about getting comfortable with each other. We play little ice breakers and learn the history of what we’re talking about. Getting to know the people and understanding the purpose of why you’re here and why you’re doing this is a big part of how we prepare our speeches…building that connection with the committee and putting your personality in the speech.
What does this year’s theme “The Audacity to Walk Together In Love” mean to you?
Addison
This year’s theme highlights the courage and responsibility that you need to overcome challenges to build your community through love and audacity. Anyone can do any audacious action if you have the will and confidence to do it. It doesn’t matter how old you are – look at the Scholars that participate every year from Belmont Elementary – but it requires courage.
Is there a moment or memory from a past year that embodies the spirit of the Rally to you?
Addison
For me, it goes back to my community aspect and the family that I’ve built. Throughout the four months that you prepare for your speeches, you watch each other’s performances develop. Hearing the power and the confidence they have on the day of the Rally really hits me.
Someone can come off as shy and come into the Rally and become this ball of energy. You really get to know people – you hear their struggles and connect one on one. It’s so beautiful to me because it shows how much four months with one group can change you. In the past few years, I have changed a lot, and this rally has built my character.
What do you want our community to know about the Rally?
Addison
What we’re talking about is not only to educate the community but to also show you that this is coming from us, deep down. It’s deeply rooted in who we are as people. This is something that’s bigger than what’s just in the room. We must continue to advocate for change and continue to come back until we get the job done.
Peter
I’ve been privileged enough to have a seat for so many years – going from being a volunteer, to my mother and daughter (Jaden) and wife during the days we had a march walking hand in hand to Jaden playing key roles and chairing the committee. This change in the 31 years mirrored the timeline of the Rally from location changes, presidents being elected, policies, civil unrest and moments of celebration and real change – not just in the delivery of the Rally but the world around us.
I think one of the great things about the Rally is we have never taken a year off. People can count on it. We needed each other during so many of those years. For example, when the world was literally shut down due to a pandemic, we were to be distant and the Rally was that vehicle to provide the connection we longed for. Youth did that…right here in Lincoln, Nebraska.
It is humbling to see what started 31 years ago has now spanned across the country and globally. We state the Rally is for those 4-90 years of age and because that is where and when change happens when people experience it together. They can let it sink in and take it back with them.
This is a space for young people to have their voices amplified and to amplify others. No true change happens without young people being involved, and not only in this space but for 31 years the Rally has served as a community and has been recognized across the country as one of those models.
Our role is to ensure they know they are loved and valued, and to be audacious (bold and courageous) at times to get out of the way and walk together with them – whether it be beside, in front, or behind – to move a beloved community forward.
To learn more, visit https://mlkyouthrally.com/.
