Assumption University and QCC will be hosting the 40th Annual Community Breakfast honoring The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 20, 2025. Doors open at 7:00 a.m. and the program will begin promptly at 8:00 a.m.
Location: Assumption University - Plourde Recreation Center, 500 Salisbury St. Worcester, MA. Shuttle service from the parking lots to the Plourde Recreation Center will be provided by the WRTA.
2025 Keynote Speaker
Dr. Kellie Carter-Jackson
Kellie Carter Jackson is the Michael and Denise ‘68 Associate Professor of Africana Studies and the Chair of the Africana Studies Department Wellesley College. She is the author of We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance (Seal Press) and the award winning book, Force & Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Nation, the Boston Globe, CNN, and a host of other outlets. She has been featured in numerous documentaries for Netflix, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, and AppleTV. She has also been interviewed on Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, MSNBC, and countless podcasts.
She co-hosts the podcast, “This Day in Political Esoteric History” with Jody Avirgan and Nicole Hemmer. She is Executive Producer and Host of the award winning “You Get a Podcast! The Study of the Queen of Talk,” formerly known as “Oprahdemics” with co-host Leah Wright Rigueur. Carter Jackson served as a Historian-in-Residence for the Museum of African American History in Boston and is commissioner for the Massachusetts Historical Commission. She lives in the suburbs of Boston with her husband and three children.
2025 Day of Service Opportunities
Local organizations will be in attendance at this year’s Breakfast so guests can sign up for future volunteer opportunities to keep the spirit of MLK, Jr. Day alive throughout the year. An important part of the Breakfast will be collecting new, age-appropriate books related to MLK or for second and third grade students in Worcester and Fitchburg public schools – books they can take home, enjoy, and be proud of. Please bring a new book with you to the Breakfast.
2025 Program Feature
The 2025 Breakfast will feature a performance by Xaulanda Thorpe. Thorpe is a spoken word poet from Worcester, Massachusetts. In 2021, Xaulanda’s poem was chosen for the African Burial Ground National Monument’s Still I Rise tribute to Maya Angelou. Her poems have been featured in “The Issue” and “Worcester Magazine.”
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2025 Sponsors
Thank you to these generous sponsors and others whose contributions enable us to carry on this most important message, which is essential to our collective and continued quest for social justice.