MLK Day 2026 Theme

This year’s MLK Day theme reflects both celebration and challenge: We honor the remarkable strides made toward realizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream while recognizing that the pursuit of justice is far from complete. More than 60 years after King shared his vision of equality, we can see how his words and actions have inspired profound changes in civil rights, education, politics, and everyday life. Yet we are also reminded that systemic inequities, racial violence, and discrimination continue to persist, calling us to carry forward the unfinished work of building a just and compassionate society.

King’s dream was never his alone. It was nurtured by countless civil rights leaders — Rosa Parks, John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer, Vine Deloria Jr., Assata Shakur, Ella Baker, and many others — who risked their lives to advance the cause of freedom. This dream has also been taken up by leaders and communities across lines of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, faith, and ability, each contributing to a broader movement for justice. From the fight for voting rights and labor protections to movements for Indigenous sovereignty, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s equality, and disability justice, the dream has continued to grow, finding new voices and new expressions with every generation.

We gather to honor this legacy while asking ourselves how we will participate in the work of justice today and how our educational pursuits prepare us for not only a career but a life of meaningful purpose. MLK Day is not only a time to look back on what has been achieved but also to recognize our responsibility to one another and to the future, and to continue, through critical inquiry, to seek understanding.

King’s words continue to remind us, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This truth calls us to examine our own community and to commit ourselves to the hard, ongoing labor of equity, reconciliation, and solidarity. Similarly, our Lutheran roots call us to engage in ongoing reformation. We are called to learn about and do the work of justice, well-being, repairing, finding, healing, and building through our Lutheran vocational model of education.

This year’s MLK Day theme reminds us that the dream belongs to all of us. It is a collective vision of dignity and belonging, one that can guide us as we seek to transform both hearts and systems. By remembering that King’s dream was shared and sustained by many, we affirm that the work of justice is also shared — that each of us has a role to play in building a world where freedom and equality are not ideals deferred but realities lived.