The 51st Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast
January 18, 2021 | 11 a.m.
in partnership with:
The MLK Memorial Breakfast Committee partnered with Northeastern University to reimagine the breakfast as a virtual event that included a multifaceted, passion-filled celebratory program, and an extended program of virtual rallies and teach-ins.
This event will appeal beyond Massachusetts to a global audience, who will celebrate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy of social justice under this year’s theme, the Arc Toward Justice: Unfinished Business. This theme is supported by three pillars to galvanize attendees to action.
This year’s Drum Major Awards will be presented to Rosie’s Place, the Greater Boston Food Bank, and Rob “Problak” Gibbs for exemplary community service.
The virtual breakfast will be followed by interactive teach-ins and virtual rallies. The teach-ins are interactive 75-minute lectures and discussions on contemporary social and political issues. The teach-in facilitators are leaders from the Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign, the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, and the Movement for Black Lives.
The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast was founded and hosted by St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church and Union United Methodist Church. Net proceeds from the MLK Memorial Breakfast support the community programs and services at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church and Union United Methodist Church. The event brings together business, civic, community, and religious leaders, as well as advocates from educational and community organizations.
St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church
1073 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02120
Tel: (617) 427-6175
Union United Methodist Church
485 Columbus Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
Tel: (617) 536-0872
DEADLINE
December 31, 2020.
The MLK Memorial Breakfast Committee strives to promote the work of Dr. King and one such way is to provide scholarships to deserving students. The Committee will award four (4) $2,500 scholarships. We encourage the participation of interested seniors at the following three Boston Public High Schools:
These scholarships are open to all seniors (twelfth-graders who are scheduled to graduate in June 2021). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had to make a number of changes to our event, to allow this annual celebration of the life and work of Dr. King to go forward while keeping everyone safe. Regarding the scholarships, we are making the following changes:
We have upgraded our website, creating a scholarship portal to enable us to distribute the scholarship applications. Access to our website scholarship portal will be sent to you in the near-term, once the portal is available. We will also contact you to address any questions and to ensure that you can access the website portal.
This portal will also be the means for students to submit their applications, and for us to communicate with school counselors and with the scholarship applicants.
Below are the general requirements to apply for MLK Breakfast scholarships. Each application will be reviewed and ranked by the MLK Breakfast Committee. Students must meet the academic requirements, and provide both a personal statement and an essay addressing the question noted below.
The deadline for scholarship application submission is December 31, 2020. All applications must be sent via email to the MLK Breakfast Committee at this address: Info@bostonmlkbreakfast.org
Academic requirements:
Applicants must have a grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) or higher. The GPA should be based on grades through November 1, 2020. Applicants must be on track to graduate high school in June 2021.
Personal Statement:
Please provide a 1,000-word personal statement (no longer than two pages) about yourself, including extracurricular activities that you are participating in. Extracurriculars may include after-school clubs, sports, church and community activities, part-time jobs, and household responsibilities. In short, your personal statement should tell us about yourself and your career goals.
Essay:
Please write a 1,500-word essay (no longer than three pages) addressing the following question: Throughout the year 2020, the need to end racial injustice has been a key issue throughout our nation. Are there effective lessons and strategies from the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s that could be used today, or do we need new answers, tactics, and strategies?
We invite you to join us as a sponsor for the 2021 MLK Memorial Breakfast. Sponsorship levels begin at $2,500 and provide a variety of opportunities for participating organizations. Sponsorship benefits include media exposure and community relations benefits commensurate with your level of sponsorship. Funds will both offset operating costs and enable the MLK Breakfast Committee to award scholarships to students in inner-city Boston and support missionary work in vulnerable communities.
Thank you in advance for your commitment and support of this year’s MLK Breakfast. If you have any questions, please contact the MLK Memorial Breakfast Committee at: Info@bostonmlkbreakfast.org.
Should you feel inspired to make a sponsor-level donation, please send your donation by January 5 to the following address:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast Committee, Inc.
c/o Mrs. Rudelle Fenty, Treasurer
1073 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02120
Named for Dr. King’s renowned Drum Major sermon, the Drum Major Award recognizes individuals and organizations that exemplify King’s legacy of service and dedication to social justice. This year’s awardees are organizations who have persevered through the novel pandemic to sustain the Boston community.