‘A Walk Together In Love’: UNL hosts 30th annual Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. Youth Rally

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The University of Nebraska-Lincoln hosted the 30th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Rally on Sunday afternoon, promoting inclusivity and love ahead of the national holiday.

In the centennial room of UNL’s student union, many supporters and scholars came together to share their personal thoughts about MLK’s mission.

Each year, elementary, middle and high school students organize the event to commemorate the life and dream of Dr. King.

Dr. Leola Bullock was honored as well for her lifelong commitment to promoting youth leadership and civil rights advocacy.

Supporters said Dr. King and Dr. Bullock have given them the power to be ‘transformational in our charge’ and challenged them to stand up and speak out in a walk together toward love.

“Him and Leola Bullock got together thirty years ago,” said Breklin Dyson, eighth grade participant. “Leola decided he’s such an influential person, such a pivotal person, that we can build something off of his voice and carry on his legacy.”

The rally featured around 20 student speakers who presented reflections, musical performances and readings from Dr. King and Dr. Bullock.

An alumni of the event told Channel 8 that it’s nice to see how far the rally has come since she participated.

“I think just seeing the generations change from when I was in the program to now,” said Brittney Hodges-Bolkovac. “You have five-year-old’s that are performing up to some older individuals who partake in it in high school, when sometimes it doesn’t seem as cool as it would be. I think that’s really awesome.”

Local businesses also showed their support by donating items in hopes of shaping the scholar’s futures.

“We’ve also done a lot of community collaborations. We have Link to Literacy, who came out and they donated over 200 books from former book projects we’ve done,” Hodges-Bolkovac said. “So that really shows the importance of literacy, but also knowing how that can change a students trajectory and if they want to do certain things, you need certain things.”

Organizers of the event said they hope to continue the late Dr. King’s mission of inclusion into the future.