The in-person event will celebrate the life and
legacy of Dr. King while raising funds for students in the Twin
Cities
General Mills and long-standing partner UNCF (United Negro
College Fund) are hosting the 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Holiday Breakfast -- returning in-person -- as a community, to
honor Dr. King’s life and legacy. Dr. Yohuru Williams,
distinguished university chair, professor and founding director of
the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas will
lead a moderated conversation with author, literary advocate, and
cultural influencer Marley Dias. The event will be held at the
Minneapolis Convention Center on Jan. 15, 2024, from 8 to 9:30 a.m.
Doors open at 7 a.m., and tickets are available at
MLKBreakfast.com.
Organized by General Mills and UNCF, the Minneapolis event is
one of the nation’s largest celebrations of Dr. King’s life and
legacy and raises funds to help under-represented students in the
Twin Cities get to and through college. This year’s event theme
“Leading Onward – Elevating New Voices for Justice and Equality,”
was inspired by Dr. King’s dedication to action and advocating for
the voice of youth in the Civil Rights Movement.
“Each year, this event gives us the opportunity to come together
as a community to create an imperative to live out Dr. King’s
legacy today and celebrate his unwavering commitment to education,”
said Mary Jane Melendez, chief sustainability and global impact
officer at General Mills. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to
creating a world that reflects Dr. King’s dream and to advancing a
culture of equity and belonging.”
General Mills and UNCF have a shared, long-standing commitment
to addressing the need for deep, lasting changes to the systemic
inequity faced by BIPOC communities. In honor of Dr. King, a 1948
graduate of Morehouse College, a historically Black college,
proceeds from the breakfast benefit UNCF Twin Cities to support
local students of color attend college and member historically
black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Through this partnership
of more than four decades, General Mills has provided $7.2 million
to UNCF.
“This year, UNCF celebrates its 80th anniversary, and through
our incredible partnership with General Mills we have been able to
provide unprecedented support for HBCUs and the students they’ve
served over the decades,” said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and
CEO, UNCF. “As we come together on this awesome occasion, let us
remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said, ‘The
function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to
think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of
true education.’ Let us continue the hard work to make the words of
Dr. King ring true as we help underrepresented students to fulfill
their dreams of a college education and a better future.”
The annual holiday breakfast and support of UNCF have long been
a priority for General Mills as part of its enterprise-wide “G
Stands for Good” purpose platform, which is rooted in two
foundational pillars – planet and people – and guides the company’s
goal of creating meaningful change, building a culture of belonging
and taking action on issues of racial and social justice within our
communities.
Community Engagement Opportunities
The MLK Holiday Breakfast in Minneapolis continues to inspire
change in the world and honor those individuals whose footprints
uplift the community. Individuals of all ages can visit
https://www.handsontwincities.org/mlkday2024 to learn more about
the many ways to take action, both during the MLK holiday and
year-round.
About Marley Dias
Marley Dias is an activist, author, contributor, cultural
influencer, speaker, founder and producer known for her passionate
advocacy for representation across mediums.
In 2015, at the age of 11, Marley launched the
#1000BlackGirlBooks initiative, which aimed to collect and donate
1,000 books featuring Black girls as the main characters to schools
and libraries across the United States. The campaign quickly gained
national attention, eclipsing its original goal, collecting more
than 15,000 books-to-date. She is also the author of Marley Dias
Gets It Done: And So Can You!
Marley currently serves as the ambassador of National
Educational Association’s (NEA) Read Across America program, and
host and executive producer of Netflix’s Bookmarks: Celebrating
Black Voices. As a current Harvard student, Marley writes for the
Harvard Crimson and also contributes to national publications,
including Rolling Stone and Elle.
Marley has spoken at the White House’s United State of Women,
The Forbes Power Women’s Summit and the United Nation’s Girl Up
conference. In 2018, Marley was recognized by TIME as one of the 25
most influential teens and was once the youngest person named to
the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Entertainment at the 2024 MLK Breakfast
The distinctive sound of Minnesota’s four-sibling family band,
NUNNABOVE, returns for the second year. The group describes their
genre as “positive alternative pop.” They appeared on America’s Got
Talent in 2018, and the group has since performed at Summerfest,
the largest outdoor venue in the country, the Minnesota State Fair,
and a wide variety of local festivals, community events and
fundraisers in and around the Twin Cities.
Known MPLS, an audition-based youth choir founded by Courtland
Pickens in the summer of 2019, stands as a beacon of recognition
and empowerment for young voices in Minneapolis. A vibrant
extension of Voicez, Inc., a nonprofit music organization dedicated
to nurturing the next generation of singers and composers across
the Twin Cities, Known MPLS thrives under Courtland's direction.
Guided by the ethos of galvanizing youths aged 12-25 as catalysts
for change, Known MPLS fosters a transformative space, instilling
self-esteem, leadership, cultural appreciation, discipline and a
pursuit of excellence among its members.
Event History
The annual holiday breakfast began when UNCF and General Mills
joined together in 1991 to host a community celebration to honor
the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Past speakers include Dr.
Bernice King, Yolanda King, Ambassador Andrew Young, the Honorable
Eric H. Holder, CNN’s Laura Coates, Valerie Jarrett former senior
advisor to President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Gen.
Colin Powell, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harry Belafonte, Rev.
Joseph Lowery, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Marian Wright Edelman, Donna
Brazile, Vernon Jordan and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval
Patrick.
This event is made possible by co-hosts General Mills and UNCF,
and presenting sponsor Best Buy. Additional support has been
generously provided by Allina, Cargill, Carlson Family Foundation,
CHS, C.H. Robinson, Ecolab, Huntington Bank, Medtronic, Minnesota
Timberwolves & Lynx, Mortenson, Pentair, Target, Thrivent,
United Health Group, Wells Fargo, Winnebago, and Xcel Energy.
Tickets
To purchase tickets for the event or for more information, visit
MLKBreakfast.com. All proceeds from the breakfast benefit UNCF Twin
Cities to support local students of color attend college and member
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The event
strives to provide accessible experiences for all and will include
an ASL interpreter. The event will also be broadcast on WCCO AM
830.
G Stands for Good
General Mills stands for good – for the people we serve, the
brands you love and the planet we depend on. For more than 150
years, General Mills has believed doing good and good business go
hand-in-hand. The company is putting people first by improving food
security and advancing a culture of inclusion, equity and
belonging, and by creating positive planetary outcomes through
actions beyond its walls. Learn more at
GeneralMills.com/gstandsforgood.
About General Mills
General Mills makes food the world loves. The Company is guided
by its Accelerate strategy to drive shareholder value by boldly
building its brands, relentlessly innovating, unleashing its scale
and standing for good. Its portfolio of beloved brands includes
household names such as Cheerios, Nature Valley, Blue Buffalo,
Haagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Yoplait,
Totino’s, Annie’s, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki and more. Headquartered in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills generated fiscal 2023
net sales of U.S. $20.1 billion. In addition, the company’s share
of non-consolidated joint venture net sales totalled U.S. $1.0
billion.
About UNCF
UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nation’s largest and
most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the
community and the nation, UNCF supports students’ education and
development through scholarships and other programs, supports and
strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates
for the importance of minority education and college readiness.
While totaling only 3% of all colleges and universities, UNCF
institutions and other historically Black colleges and universities
are highly effective, awarding 15% of bachelor’s degrees, 5% of
master’s degrees, 10% of doctoral degrees and 19% of all STEM
degrees earned by Black students in higher education. UNCF
administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship,
internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and
curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports
more than 50,000 students at over 1,100 colleges and universities
across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership
in education and its widely recognized trademark, ‟A mind is a
terrible thing to waste.” ® Learn more at UNCF.org or for
continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Twitter at @UNCF.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231214712398/en/
Mollie Wulff, General Mills Media.Line@GenMills.com
763-764-6364
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