The annual celebration and march emphasizes belonging and persistent community action for its 38th year

By Sydney Seymour, Ashland.news

Joining countless cities across the nation, Ashland’s annual celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — featuring spoken word, dance and choral performances — is set for noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19, at the Historic Ashland Armory. 

For 37 years, hundreds of Ashlanders have gathered, in-person and via live stream, to celebrate Dr. King’s vision of community service. It’s a day to recognize all those involved with the Civil Rights Movement and bettering the community, MLK Day organizer and longtime emcee D.L. Richardson added in a phone call to Ashland.news. 

This year, the celebration’s theme is Dr. King’s quote, “The time is always right to do right.” Richardson said the theme encourages people to step up for their community. 

“If you are not speaking out, then you actually do more harm than good,” Richardson continued.

The celebration includes choral and dance performances by the Rogue Valley Peace Choir and students from Southern Oregon University (SOU), Ashland High School, Ashland Middle School, and Helman and Walker elementary schools. Among other messages from the community, SOU professor Alma Rosa Alvarez will offer spoken word and the SOU Black Student Union will recite the Black National Anthem rather than singing it. 

SOU President Rick Bailey will deliver this year’s keynote speech. He told Ashland.news he plans to talk about how to do two things at the same time: “One, understanding and not forgetting our complicated and difficult past,” he wrote in an email to Ashland.news, “and two, committing to envisioning  — and taking action to ensure — a better future.”

The event has its own call to action, as Richardson described. ​​After the celebration, keeping with tradition, participants will march from the Armory to the downtown Plaza to hear Dr. King’s original “I have a Dream” speech. 

“It’s important that people know not just those first 30-some words of the speech, but to hear the speech in its entirety and depth,” Ashland City Councilor and MLK Day organizer Gina DuQuenne said in a phone call to Ashland.news. 

Attendees are also invited to donate non-perishable food items, which will be donated to the SOU Food Pantry.

Expecting full capacity at the Armory, organizers recommend arriving as early as possible. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Once the Armory is filled, Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s (OSF) Carpenter Hall will be a livestream location. The show will also be livestreamed on Rogue Valley Community Television, Prime TV and the Southern Oregon MLK Day website. 

The free annual celebration for all is organized by the Ashland MLK Day Committee, which is made up of community members like DuQuenne and Richardson and others from groups like the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, OSF, Ashland School District and Southern Oregon nonprofits like Black Alliance & Social Empowerment (BASE) and Ashland Peace House. Event sponsors include the City of Ashland, SOU, Ashland Food Co-Op, Southern Oregon Pride, Black Southern Oregon Alliance and more. 

‘A city of belonging’ 

The goal for Ashland — ingrained in many of Monday’s messages — is to “become a city of belonging, and not ‘othering,’” Richardson said, citing an October panel discussion in Ashland on civil rights. Ashland High School and Ashland City Council are forming “Belonging Committees” according to Richardson, as an effort to make Ashland a place where everyone feels welcome.

Keynote speaker SOU President Bailey also emphasized the sense of belonging this celebration fosters. “Dr. King’s teachings and his lifetime of service serve as a north star for how to keep hope alive and fight for a future that everyone deserves,” he wrote to Ashland.news, “one where everyone is loved and respected for exactly who they are.”

Emcee Richardson first attended Ashland’s annual celebration in 2002. Moved by the crowd wrapping around the block despite a snowy day, he got involved with organizing the event the following year. Richardson said he saw “the pure commitment that people have to the community and making things better for all, not just for a few.” 

City Councilor DuQuenne also highlighted the community turnout year after year. They both agreed that the celebration is not only about a single day.

“On Monday we celebrate, stop and remember,” DuQuenne said in a phone call to Ashland.news, “but the wonderful part about it is the ripple effect.” MLK Day allows attendees to remind themselves of Dr. King’s vision and hold onto it for the next 365 days, DuQuenne continued.

Richardson advised attendees to be prepared for a celebration, but also to work afterwards. “Our main battle cry is to not have a blind eye to the things that are going on in our community,” he said. 

While the celebration is to remember Dr. King’s legacy, Vance Beach, Founder and Executive Director of event partner BASE, said it’s more than a commemorative event. He continued in a written statement to Ashland.news, “It’s a community practice.” Beach hopes attendees leave not only inspired, but “more connected to their neighbors and more committed to building a community where everyone can fully belong.”

The annual celebration predates MLK Day as a national holiday, Richardson added. The national holiday, he said, is in jeopardy. The Trump administration recently removed MLK Day and Juneteenth from the 2026 calendar for entrance-fee free days at national parks, as reported by NPR.

“We have to fight hard to make sure that this day will always be a national holiday,” emcee Richardson continued. “This is one of those years where we really need to work things out together in order to move forward as a country because so much is going on that makes it clear not everyone is being treated fairly.” 

Those interested in getting involved with the Ashland MLK Day Committee, Richardson suggested, may reach out to any committee member and visit the website. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Sydney Seymour at sydneyseymourr@gmail.com.

Related stories: 

Building a bigger ‘we’: Renowned civil rights expert john a. powell addresses packed Ashland audience at launch of ‘All.Together.Now’ (Oct. 9, 2025)

Ashland’s 37th annual MLK Celebration: ‘The battle is in our hands’ (Jan. 20, 2025)

Building a BASE: Black Alliance & Social Empowerment works on community building (Feb. 9, 2024)

Ashland marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 17, 2022)