Keeping Dr. King’s Legacy Alive
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a federal holiday in 1983, and the first official nationwide celebration took place three years later. Dr. King’s vision for the human race impacted the world, and it continues to resonate well into the future. Each year, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, “The King Center”, hosts multiple events to celebrate Dr. King’s Legacy.
The 2026 festivities ran from January 8-19, and featured the M.L.K. Jr., Beloved Community Awards, the Beloved Community Global Summit, a film screening, and more.
This year’s annual M.L.K. Jr., Beloved Community Awards was held on January 18, 2026, and was co-hosted by actress Anika Noni Rose and actor Aldis Hodge and honored over five people, including EGOT winner Viola Davis.
Rose spoke with the Carvd N Stone Team on how to honor Dr. King’s Legacy on a daily basis.
“First of all, we need to remember that caring for ourselves allows us to care for others. So we have to make sure that we are nourishing ourselves both with food nutrition, good nutrition. Being aware of what we’re putting in our bodies, but also being aware of what we’re putting in our minds,” said Rose.
To walk in the path Dr. King carved out means to help others, and Hodge couldn’t agree more.
“What we do is not relevant unless we’re solving problems, making things better for people. So what problems do you want to solve, and…who do you want to be in that? And when people tell you, ‘Oh, you can’t do this and this and this and that at the same time.’ I got about 50 jobs,” Hodge said to the Carvd N Stone Team. “Don’t listen to people who haven’t walked your path, who haven’t experienced what you experience, who haven’t aspired to do what you do, because they will only see their narrow view on how things work.”
Dr. DuShun Scarbrough, Sr., is the 2026 Civic Leadership Award recipient and the executive director of the Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission. At age 15, he held his first conference, The Death of A Race, a youth speak out conference. He talked about how that moment sparked the rest of his life trajectory and how that involved honoring Dr. King’s legacy.
“It gave me the courage to be able to not only speak in front of many individuals but to show that I had something to offer to the world. And being able to have a message to be a change agent or an agent of change, to bring that and help those noble tenets espoused by Dr. King has been truly a blessing, and I’m thankful to be able to exemplify that,” said Dr. Scarbrough to the Carvd N Stone Team.
2026 Honorees
- Viola Davis – Coretta Scott King Women Soul of the Nation Award
- Billie Eilish – Environmental Justice Award
- Warrick Dunn – Yolanda D. King Higher Ground Award
- Cody Soodeen – Technological Innovation Award
- Dr. Dorothy Jean Tillman – Youth Influencer Award (Individual)
- Dr. DuShun Scarbrough, Sr. – Civic Leadership Award
- Mónica Ramírez – Social Justice Award
- Robert F. Smith – Salute to Greatness Humanitarian Award
- Cisco – Salute to Greatness Corporate Impact Award
- Sesame Workshop – Christine King Farris Legacy of Service in Education Award
- The Lebron James Family Foundation – Youth Influencer Award (Corporation)
Screening of “Nothing to See Here: WATTS”
Bernice King, Dr. King’s daughter, saw a screening of the documentary, Nothing to See Here: WATTS, while out of the country, and decided it needed to be shown in Atlanta. Nothing to See Here: WATTS was screened at the College Football Hall of Fame on Dr. King’s birthday, January 15, 2026.
Nothing to See Here: WATTS documents the lives of people in Watts, a neighborhood in southern Los Angeles, California. Over 200 people were asked to participate, and 20 said yes. In those 20 participants, included students, victims of violence, police officers, gang members, and community members. Each participant received an iPhone to film their daily life, which they all collectively edited it together. The King Center screened an agreed-upon rough cut.
The hour-and-a-half documentary shows a vivid look into what it is like inside Watts. By the end of the screening, many viewers were teary-eyed from seeing the hardships the participants went through, like being robbed in broad daylight in front of their children, to being shot just for trying to buy a PlayStation. Yet, through the hardships, the documentary showed how each participant believes in the good existing in Watts, which they say is often overlooked.
In 1992, rival Bloods and Crips gang members in South Los Angeles signed the Watts Truce, a historic peace agreement. According to the documentary, over the years, violence hit every section of the Watts.
During the documentary, a group discussion was held about the constant violence in Watts and what can be done to stop it.
After the screening, a talkback was held, moderated by rapper, actor, and entrepreneur T.I., and featured participants from the film. It was announced during the talkback that since filming the documentary, Watts has had 12 months of no homicides.
Nothing to See Here: WATTS brings together individuals who might not typically agree with each other or work together. You can see participants’ perspectives change while watching the documentary, echoing Dr. King’s vision of mutual respect, understanding, and equality across race, gender, identity, or any title we put on ourselves.
Nyesha Stone founded Carvd N Stone in 2017 to cover positive news while attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Stone has a B.A. in Journalism. She has raised over $30,000 to award grants and scholarships. She has also been featured in ESSENCE and worked with the American Black Film Festival.
