Wayne State University's annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute will take place Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at the Max M. Fisher Music Center. The Tribute brings together the metro Detroit community to celebrate and honor the life and legacy of Dr. King. Want to take the shuttle from WSU campus? Click here for more information.

Key Note Speaker

Donna Brazile is a best-selling author, adjunct professor at Georgetown University, a syndicated newspaper columnist for United Media, a columnist for Ms. Magazine and O Magazine, and an on-air contributor to CNN, NPR, and ABC, where she regularly appears on This Week.

In August 2009, O, The Oprah Magazine chose Ms. Brazile as one of its 20 "remarkable visionaries" for the magazine's first-ever O Power List. In addition, she was named among the 100 Most Powerful Women by Washingtonian magazine, Top 50 Women in America by Essence magazine, and received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's highest award for political achievement.

Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences Show Choir

Under the direction of Ms. Angela Kee, the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences Show Choir will perform "Renaissance State of Mind," a lyrical tribute and display of youthful support for the city of Detroit. Here is their performance from last year's Tribute.

Net Proceeds Benefit Adopt-A-Classroom

Net proceeds from the Tribute will support Adopt-A-Classroom. WSU, in partnership with our generous Tribute sponsors, has donated more than $25,000 to Adopt-A-Classroom in the past four years. Adopt-a-Classroom is a nationally recognized organization that invites the community into classrooms to increase opportunity for student success by empowering teachers with community partnerships and funds to purchase resources for their classrooms.

Inside Out Poets to Perform

InsideOut's Citywide Poets is an intensive after-school program for aspiring high school poets. For the past two years, three young poets received standing ovations as they performed their extraordinary poems crafted especially for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute program. The Citywide Poets have won numerous awards including the prestigious Coming Up Taller Award given by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. We are honored that they have accepted the invitation to once again perform at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute.

Community Leadership Awards

The Office of Government and Community Affairs is proud to announce the 2012 Community Leadership Awards. The purpose of these awards is to honor an individual and an organization whose contributions affect our community in a positive way. This years' winners include:

• Focus: HOPE
  •  In 1968, Father William Cunningham (19301997) and Eleanor Josaitis (1931-2011) co-founded Focus:HOPE, an organization dedicated to intelligent and practical solutions to the problems of hunger, economic disparity, inadequate education, and racial divisiveness.

• Eleanor Josaitis (posthumously)
  • Eleanor Josaitis, co-founder of Focus: HOPE, is widely regarded as a leader who fought with courage and tenacity for causes close to her heart.   Where there was a problem, she found a solution.  The housewife turned civil rights activist dedicated the last 43 years of her life to "intelligent and practical action to overcome racism, poverty and injustice" as proclaimed in the Focus: HOPE mission statement.

Become An Event Sponsor

This event would not be possible without our generous event sponsors. Check out the available sponsorships here. Thanks to our sponsors, more than 2,000 local students have attended the Tribute over the past four years at no cost to them or their school.