Greensboro’s Human Rights Commission established the Martin Luther King Jr.  Memorial Breakfast in 1987 in order to honor King’s life and works, as well as to “provide opportunities for public reflection on human rights in Greensboro, and inspire community members to affirm equal opportunity and treatment for all.”

At that first breakfast over three and a half decades ago, held at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, only 75 people showed up. In recent years, the Koury Convention Center has hosted the event, with the attendance some years nearing 1,000 people.

Now there will be changes for the breakfast celebration: The City of Greensboro’s Human Rights Commission announced this weekend that it has overhauled some aspects of the committee that shape the group’s annual memorial breakfast.

According to a city press release, the changes are meant to “enhance the committee’s effectiveness and efficiency as it organizes one of the City’s most prominent annual celebrations of Dr. King.”

According to that release, “The MLK Breakfast Committee will continue to plan the breakfast, determine the program theme, and identify the keynote speaker and community participants. Under the new guidelines, 12 residents and four City staffers not employed in the Human Rights Department will comprise the committee. Six residents will have prior experience on the committee and the other six will be new. The Human Rights Commission will determine the group’s final composition.”

Greensboro residents who wish to serve should complete an online application for the Human Rights Commission review. Those chosen will serve two-year terms and become eligible for additional service after a two-year roll-off period.

The application can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QMMKLRT.

The committee will meet virtually twice a month.

The MLK Breakfast for 2025 is tentatively scheduled for January 20.

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