MLK Events

The Office of Social Justice and Inclusion would like to thank everyone who supports the FIU-MLK Celebration events.

MLK Events at a glance

MLK Commemorative Breakfast	January 13, 2023	8 am	MMC - GC Ballrooms
MLK Day of Service	January 14, 2023		View event sites
MLK Parade - FIU Contingency	January 16, 2023	8 am	MMC - Parking Lot 5
MLK-Robert M. Coatie Youth Forum MLK Peace Walk	January 18, 2023	10 am	BBC - WUC Ballrooms
MLK-Black Student Union Dinner	January 19, 2023	7 pm	GC 355
MLK @ The Frost Art Museum Opening Reception - RSVP Here	January 25, 2023	3 pm	Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum
MLK @ The Frost Art Museum Exhibit	January - April 2023		Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum

MLK Commemorative Celebration

Florida International University values and honors the late great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for his efforts in fighting for Civil Rights. For the past 30+ years The Office of Social Justice and Inclusion and the MLK Commemorative planning committee have proudly brought world renowned Civil Rights Activists and Educators to speak at FIU.

Dotson Family MLK Keynote Speakers

FIU-MLK Day of Service

This event is a collaborative effort between the Center for Leadership and Service and the Office of Social Justice and Inclusion. Hundreds of FIU student volunteers are engaged in a one day project aimed at restoring and beautifying a targeted area in Miami-Dade County. Past Project Options included: Off campus at Deering Estate - Beach Cleanup - Off campus at Lotus House - addressing how we can support homelessness in women in children. Assisting operation team in cleaning, organizing, meal prep and serving food. On-campus at MMC - Operation Gratitude - supporting our first responders, veterans, deployed troops, and wounded heroes by showing we care. Crafting paracord bracelets and letters to be added to care packages. MLK Day of Service will be held on January 14, 2023. For more information please visit https://go.fiu.edu/mlkdos .

MLK Parade - FIU Contingency

Florida International University is committed to the ideas of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and we reach out to the local South Florida community in many ways. One of the most rewarding ways is by participating in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade that is held on 54th Street annually. FIU has been a long time participant in the parade, and our contingency has grown to be one of the largest in the parade, with participation from our students, athletes, faculty, staff and administration. This event is free for FIU students, staff, alumni and administration.

2023 Robert M. Coatie MLK Youth Forum Keynote Speaker

Mr. Starex Smith, Chief Eating Officer, The Hungry Black Man Media

Robert M. Coatie MLK Youth Forum

The MLK-Robert M. Coatie Youth Forum will be hosted on January 18, 2023 at FIU's Biscayne Bay Campus. The Robert M. Coatie Youth Forum follows in the spirit of the MLK Commemorative Breakfast. While the focus is to target middle and high school students, the dedication is at the same level in bringing renowned speakers to inspire these youths to not only achieve their best, but to follow the ideals of Dr. King in their everyday lives.

This year's Robert M. Coatie MLK Youth Forum keynote speaker is Mr. Starex Smith, a proud FIU alumnus and past president of FIU's Black Student Union. Smith is an accomplished and experienced public administrator, fundraiser, restaurateur, and culinary business developer who has committed himself to chronicling the Black culinary experience in the United States. He currently serves as Vice President of Strategy and Development for Black Tech Week, along with Senior Advisor to the CEO of Black Ambition, a Pharrell Williams Company with over fifteen years of experience in managing public/private partnerships, large scale events, and nonprofits.

Past Robert M. Coatie Youth Forum Keynote Speakers

FIU MLK Peace Walk

The MLK Peace Walk is a companion event to the MLK Youth Forum, and occurs right after that event. The Peace Walk is the vision of Kimberly Atchinson, a former employee of the Office of International Students and Scholars Services, in response to the Columbine Shootings. The Peace Walk is a reflective walk by Biscayne Bay to promote the idea of worldwide peace.

FIU BSU MLK Dinner

The MLK Commemorative Celebration Dinner/Discussion is sponsored by FIU-Black Student Union Council and co-sponsored by the the Office of Social Justice and Inclusion. The dinner is preceded by a discussion which centers around the type of impact college students can have on younger students as well as discussions on making an impact politically that could improve local neighborhoods, the state and the nation. The 2023 FIU Black Student Union's MLK Dinner will be held on January 19, 2023.

MLK @ The Frost - An Elegy to Rosewood

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Exhibition Series at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum addresses issues of race, diversity, social justice, civil rights, and humanity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue and to enrich our community with new perspectives. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Rosewood Massacre and International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum presents An Elegy to Rosewood. This groundbreaking exhibition will feature historic photographs and preserved heirlooms from Lizzie Jenkins’s family, who survived the massacre, as well as their story and tenacious desire to acknowledge this history. The Rosewood Massacre was a weeklong, racially motivated attack on the rural Florida town of the same name in 1923. Ku Klux Klan members murdered Black Rosewood residents and burned the town to the ground during the first week of January. Those who survived were driven from the area permanently. Join the opening reception and panel discussion on Wednesday, January 25th, at 3:00 p.m. The panel will assess the ramifications and dissemination of racial violence in Florida. The discussion will feature the Founder of The Real Rosewood Foundation, Lizzie Jenkins, and its Vice President, Pedro Jermaine, alongside Alexandra Cornelius, Ph.D., and Daniel Royles, Ph.D., FIU professors of history. The exhibition will be on view from January 25th - April 16th, 2023. This event is sponsored by Florida Humanities; Humanities Edge; Knight Foundation; FIU’s College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts; and FIU African and African Diaspora Studies.

An Elegy to Rosewood Exhibition An Elegy to Rosewood Opening Reception RSVP

FIU-MLK Student Volunteer Opportunities

All FIU students can volunteer for any of the FIU MLK events that you are interested in, by emailing us at osji@fiu.edu

Please include your contact number and the event(s) you are interested in volunteering for.

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