The youngest member of Little Rock Nine, Carlotta Walls LaNier, delivered the keynote address.

Last Friday, Metro State hosted its 19^th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Breakfast to recognize five area activists for their work on civil rights, diversity and equality.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Vicki Golich welcomed the crowd of nearly 400 to the breakfast held in the Tivoli Turnhalle, saying, “We must remember the bus boycotts, the March on Washington, his achievement of the Nobel Peace Prize and how he achieved goals through civil disobedience and nonviolence.”

The keynote address was delivered by Carlotta Walls LaNier, who, at the age of 14 in 1957, was the youngest Little Rock Nine member to integrate Central High School in Arkansas. She received a standing ovation before speaking. She said that President Barack Obama’s “election to president was surely one of Dr. King’s dreams. I never thought in my lifetime I would see the election of a black president.”

She added, “Our hope is that we move to a colorblind world, to content of character, not color of skin.”

She also recalled the different groups of people who were at Central High School when she attended. They ranged from harassers to sympathizers to those who did nothing. The latter group needed to use their voice, according to LaNier. “They simply kept their mouths shut in all matters. Stepping up doesn’t require a big step, but a small step, a step in the right direction.”

Students from Denver School of the Arts performed at the breakfast.

Five people already taking a step in the right direction were honored this year at the breakfast. They include:

Marziya Kaka – Student
A natural leader and devotee of global justice and service to her community, Marziya Kaka has influenced thousands of fellow Metro State students and others throughout Colorado with her determined activism on civil rights and peace. As president of Metro State's Muslim Student Association, Kaka has brought in more than 30 speakers and organized numerous events on peace and nonviolence.

Gloria J. Burns – Student
As a single parent of two, a grandmother of five and a veteran of the U.S. Navy, Gloria Burns knows about commitment and how to get things done. A regular volunteer at many community events, including bringing the Tuskegee airmen to Metro State, the former president of the Black Student Alliance works tirelessly on diversity and inclusion issues.

AnnJanette “AJ” Alejano-Steele – Faculty
A long-time supporter of diversity, civil rights and inclusive justice, AJ Alejano-Steele, professor of psychology and women's studies, works relentlessly to improve student relations at schools and make curricula more gender-fair and multiculturally equitable. She is considered a national expert on human trafficking and regularly lends her honest and empathic voice to raise public awareness on the issue.

John Parvensky – Community Activist
John Parvensky has a long and rich history of fighting for civil rights, social change and social justice. It’s a battle he’s fought for nearly a quarter of a century as president of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, the organization committed to the poorest of the poor, and now as president of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C. to prevent and wipe out homelessness.

Leon Kelly – Community Activist
Leon Kelly is known as a peacemaker. For the last two decades, he has mediated conflicts between rival gangs and shared new solutions of peace and communication among those previously mired in violence. He says when one person is saved from death or an existence that leads to harming others, it allows families to blossom.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Breakfast was started in 1992 by Karen J. Thorpe, a former assistant vice president of student affairs at Metro State.