Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon

Theme: The Fierce Urgency of Now

The Martin Luther King Luncheon will be held Monday, January 19, 2026 Reception: 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 Luncheon: 12:00 noon, Marriott City Creek Hotel Ballroom, 75 South West Temple St, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Make reservations by calling (801) 250-5088, emailing jdwnaacp@att.net, or paying online: www.naacp-saltlakebranch.org.

Payments can be mailed to:
NAACP Salt Lake Branch
P.O. Box 25414
Salt Lake City, UT 84125-0414

RSVP by January 12

$150.00 Individual Ticket
$1,200.00 Table of Eight
$75.00 for Youth Under 12

Tel: (801) 250-5088
Fax: (801) 250-5111
Email: jdwnaacp@att.net

Program and Awards

Kareem Crayton, JD, PhD (Political Science)

Speaker
Vice President, Washington DC

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School

Kareem Crayton is vice president of the Brennan Center’s Washington, DC, office, where he manages the center’s affairs inside the Beltway and leads programs that include a new organization-wide project focused on the American South.

An established scholar on the intersection of law, politics, and race, Crayton has served on law and political science faculties across the country and authored more than two dozen publications that explore the connections between race and politics in representative institutions. The substantive architect of a first-generation video game about redistricting, Crayton is also a digital content creator who integrates the theoretical and practical aspects of civic participation to engage the broader public.

As counsel and advisor, Crayton has represented advocacy groups and public officials, including the Congressional Black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific Islander Caucuses. He served as chief of staff and special counsel to the Alabama House minority leader during a special session on redistricting. During the 2020 redistricting cycle, he advised nearly a dozen local jurisdictions, commissions, and legislative caucuses. He previously served as executive director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, where he hired and trained a litigation team to argue in two key gerrymandering cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A native of Montgomery, Alabama, Crayton is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and holds a law degree and a doctorate in political science from Stanford University. He served as a law clerk to Judge Harry Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and as a foreign law clerk to Justice Sandile Ngcobo of the Constitutional Court of South Africa

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award Recipient

Luz Escamilla

She was elected to the Utah State Senate in 2008. Now serving her fifth term, Senator Escamilla is the Senate Democratic Leader and the vice chair of the Senate Ethics Committee.

Senator Escamilla has extensive professional experience as a consultant, specializing in strategy and government relations for businesses and nonprofits. She was appointed by Governor Jon Huntsman in 2005 as the inaugural director of the State Office of Ethnic Affairs, overseeing Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Pacific Islander Affairs. She also spent 13 years at Zions Bank, where she served as vice president of the Community Development Group, Director of the Business Resource Center, and Market Manager for the Hispanic/Latino market. She is currently the co-founder and manager of ESCATEC Solutions, a company dedicated to improving technology support, CX, and international trade.

Additionally, Senator Escamilla contributes her leadership and expertise to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Executive Committee, the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL) Executive Committee, the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District Board, the Salt Lake City International Airport Advisory Board, Utah Days of ‘47 Board, Hale Centre Theatre Board of Trustees, Utah Symphony | Utah Opera Board of Trustees, and 2034 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games Steering Committee.

She has received numerous honors, including being the first Utahn recognized as an “Outstanding American by Choice” by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Other awards include the Utah Democratic Council Eleanor Roosevelt Award, the Bronze Minuteman Award, Voices for Utah Children’s Roz McGee Children’s Champion Award, Utah Women Run’s Martha Hughes Cannon Award, the Champion for Utah Children Award, and the ASPA Distinguished Service Award.

Originally from Mexico, Senator Escamilla became the first Latina elected to the Utah Senate and the first immigrant elected to the Utah Legislature. For the past 17 years, her political career has focused on the well-being of Utah families. She works to address the social determinants of health and improve healthcare outcomes and quality of life. Her legislative priorities include healthcare access and cost, food security, air quality, transportation, affordable childcare, and home visiting services. A passionate advocate for children and families, she is committed to ensuring that every child in Utah has the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. She is also a champion of religious freedom and has been recognized for her support of diverse faith communities, including Wat Lao Buddharam.

Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing and a Master of Public Administration, both from the University of Utah, as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Salt Lake Community College.

Senator Escamilla lives on the west side of Salt Lake City with her husband, Juan Carlos. Together, they have six children and a cat named Meow. She is deeply committed to equity, opportunity, and the empowerment of working families and children across Utah.

Rosa Parks Award Recipient

Michelle Love-Day

Michelle Love-Day has been an educator for 24 years. She received her Bachelors in Education (K-8, Minor In Spanish), and Masters in Reading (K-12) from Bowling Green State University (Ohio), and a Masters in Education, Leadership, and Policy from the University of Utah (Utah). Her second language is Spanish and she studied abroad in Alaclá, Spain. Leaving her home state of Ohio, she taught in North Carolina until relocating to Utah in 2005. She was a 1st & 2nd grade teacher, Literacy Coach, Principal, and Associate Director of Educational Equity (now Access and Opportunity). She is currently the Director of the Language & Culture Services Department. She also is the director and founder of RISE Academy, co-Founder of UROR (Utah Rooting Out Racism).

Her style of hands-on learning, encouragement, and realness has helped students to overcome their barriers to success. Michelle has worked with teachers to inspire, motivate and encourage. She shares information and ways parents can work with schools, advocate for their children, and how they can assist in creating a rich diverse literacy environment at home and in school. A long-term member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, INC., she believes in working in and giving back to the community. Mrs. Love-Day has served on many Boards including the Hale Centre Theater Board of Trustees, Clark Planetarium Board, the Access to Justice Commission,The Policy Project and the Conviction Integrity Board. She has played a role on the Ethnic Studies Commission for Utah and believes that being involved in political and social action is a large step to change. She enjoys acting on stage and in commercials and is a member of the Actors Equity Association.

She is passionate about schools being student focused, equitable, and a place where all students feel that they are welcomed and have an adult they can believe in and who believes in them. In 2022, she delivered an idea worth sharing on the Tedx stage and is the proud mother to 6 children and a wife, daughter, sister & friend

Mistress of Ceremonies

Surae Chinn

Creative and useful DIYs, brilliant cooking hacks, and unique recipes, plus the trendiest topics at the table. Surae Chinn brings it all five days a week as a full-time host of ‘Good Things Utah.’ ABC4’s live, two-hour, daily lifestyle show is where Surae shares the above, along with important, worldly issues, giving a diverse voice and perspective to the community.

Surae joined ‘Good Things Utah’ in June of 2019 after transitioning from the 4:00 pm ABC4 News Anchor position, which she began on August 1, 2016. Surae shared her dedication to health and medicine as ABC4’s Health and Medical Correspondent from 2016-2021, leaving a lasting impression and reminder to always ‘be your own advocate.’

This award-winning journalist came to us here in Utah from WUSA9 (CBS) in Washington, D.C., where she served as the fill-in anchor and reporter. Prior to that, Surae worked in Kansas City, Missouri, as the weekend morning anchor. She was also the weekend anchor in Lynchburg, Virginia, at WSET-TV (ABC), where she received an Edward R. Murrow award for her coverage and 30-minute special on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and an Associated Press award for ‘Best Documentary.’

First Responders Awards

First Responders Awards was established in 2017, will be presented for outstanding community service, actions of valor on or off duty or exemplary law enforcement service, saving a life, helping someone in need or community service. This award is presented to Police, Fire and EMS.

NAACP Scholarship Donors:

Scholarship will be presented to Utah High School and College Students

Ben & Liliana Dilts
Brian Barnard Law School
CHG Healthcare
CR England
Gordon & Connie Hanks
Hires Big H
Kem C. Gardner
Larry H. Miller Company
Matt and Nancy Dorny
Seekwell
Smith’s Food and Drug

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Dr King 2025 Program Book

The NAACP Salt Lake Branch 41st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
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