The Iowa Department of Human Rights’ Office on the Status of African Americans will host its 34th annual celebration honoring the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 16, 2023, at 10:45 a.m. The virtual event will be streamed via the Department of Human Rights Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/iowadepthumanrights. It will include Governor Kim Reynolds' Proclamation designating January 16 as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and the period of January 15–21 as Martin Luther King Jr. Week; video presentations; and the holiday bell ringing.

The virtual celebration will also include the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award recipients listed below.  Photos of the recipients can be found at this link:  MLK Awards 2023.

MLK Achievement Awards

Curtis Baugh is the Director of Asset Development for the Small Business Solutions Center at the Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families. He has owned several small businesses and enjoys sharing his knowledge, providing resources and working with businesses of all sizes to help them succeed. He is a husband, father of eight adopted children, and resides in Pella.

Anesa Buchanan is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Consultant with UnityPoint Health. She has worked to ensure equity within the healthcare system for patients and staff in all underserved communities. She was instrumental in UnityPoint Health’s efforts to create and distribute a COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit specifically for communities of color and underrepresented populations. She is a devoted wife, mother, and lives in Des Moines.

MLK Service Project Awards

Nancy Mwirotsi is the founder of Pi515, Giving Youth the (Code) to Succeed, a non-profit organization to support local students who would be the first in their families to graduate high school and/or attend college. She created after-school programs to teach students computer skills and digital literacy as well as provide them with academic and personal support.

Dubuque Branch NAACP and Captain Robert L. Martin Commemoration Committee were both instrumental in the naming of the Capt. Robert Martin Terminal at Dubuque Regional Airport.

Call 2 Serve Youth Contest

Rock Creek Elementary School 5^th grade class in Ankeny submitted a video showing how they use Dr. King's lessons of compassion, courage, humility, truth, service, justice and dignity in their school and in relationships with others.

Saanvi Ram, a 10^th grader at Hempstead High School in Dubuque, submitted a poem entitled "America: 1865".

Contacts:

Sonya Streit, Public Information Officer, [email protected], (515) 242-5640

Kim Cheeks, Office on the Status of African Americans, [email protected],         
(515) 281-3274 or (800) 351-4659.

Iowa Department of Human Rights
321 E. 12th St. 
Des Moines, IA 50319