JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – City leaders and local groups, including the NAACP and Urban League, sat down Friday morning for a joint breakfast honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The event began at 7 a.m. at the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center.
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The city’s 38th annual breakfast brought 2,000 people together to focus on unity.
This year’s program featured a keynote address by Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “King: A Life.”
Eig had a fireside chat with Isaiah M. Oliver, President of the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.
“Dr. King’s message is of unity,” Eig said. “He talks about the dream, radical faith that says we have to challenge authority. We can’t accept the status quo. Dr. King’s message is that we start to cross those lines, even when it’s uncomfortable.”
The 125th anniversary of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, a hymn deeply rooted in Jacksonville history, was commemorated.
In 2019, the city and local organizations held separate celebrations on the same day. Mayor Donna Deegan brought the groups back together in 2024.
“Jacksonville is no stranger to MLK’s call to having audacious faith. Our own history is rich and resilient,” Deegan said.
Local students who embody King’s service, leadership, and principles were honored. Students submitted essays, poetry, and visual arts inspired by King’s quote, “We must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.”
The winners and runners-up are listed below:
High School - Poetry
- 1st Place Winner: Kynlei Gibbs - 9th Grade - Riverside High School
- 1st Runner Up: Juriyah Gilmore - Grade 9 - Riverside High School
- 2nd Runner Up: Zohli Harris - Grade 9 - Riverside High School
Middle School - Visual Arts
- 1st Place Winner: Diego Muñoz - Grade 7 - Westview K-8
- 1st Runner Up: Delilah Meza - Grade 7 - Landmark Middle School
- 2nd Runner Up: Amari Saint-Vil - Grade 8 - Matthew W. Gilbert Middle School
Elementary School - Essay
- 1st Place Winner: Tyson Jones - Grade 5 - Biscayne Elementary Leadership Academy
- 1st Runner Up: Millionaire Paige - Grade - Andrew A. Robinson Elementary
- 2nd Runner Up: Skye Stuckey - Grade 5 - Biscayne Elementary Academy