LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Each January, Americans honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Hundreds of people did just that this year in Louisville at the Muhammad Ali Center. 


What You Need To Know

  • Martin Luther King Day is Monday, Jan. 20 

  • Admission was free Monday at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville 

  • King's "I Have a Dream" speech was played hourly in its entirety

At the top of each hour, King's "I Have a Dream" speech played inside the second-floor auditorium of the Ali Center, giving those in attendance a chance to view the speech in its entirety.  

“Today, there will be hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who work their way through the Muhammad Ali Center, who get a chance to hear that message and not only remember it, but hopefully use today as a moment to begin to reinvest in the work to bring that mission to fruition,” said DeVone Holt, Muhammad Ali Center president and CEO.

The Center is open free of charge Monday. Holt said he believes it gives more people the chance to learn about not only Ali’s own legacy but how it intersects with King and the Civil Rights movement.

“I just thought it's important for our kids to see, what's come before them and see what the struggle was before, and maybe understand the opportunities they now have because of it,” said Michael Akrong, who brought his family to the center Monday. “They need to just see how hard it was and what it took to get to where we are now and where we can still keep going.”

Michael Akrong and his family at the Muhammad Ali Center on Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 20, 2025. (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton)

Among the day’s events included a panel discussion by the Muhammad Ali Center Council of Students (MACCS) about how to continue King’s message far into the future

“To me, celebrating MLK means celebrating equality, equity and hoping for better equality and equality in the future," said Kruthi Mangamur, a DuPont Manual High School senior who is on the council. "And so me and my fellow MACCS, I think, form a really unique group of students that share the same goals for the future." 

King visited Louisville multiple times during the 1960s. His brother was also a pastor at the city’s Zion Baptist Church.

King also helped lead thousands in a march on the state capitol in Frankfort that would lead to the passage of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act of 1966.