The City of Aurora will come together on Monday to celebrate the 95th birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The City’s 39th Annual Aurora MLK Ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, January 15, at Calvary Church, 9S200 Route 59.
With the theme ‘What Happens to a Dream Determined?” the ceremony will honor the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with youth performances, community awards, and special guest speakers, 17-year-old Ph.D. graduate Dr. Dorothy Tillman and award-winning actor Tyler Lepley.
After earning her bachelor’s degree from Excelsior College at age 12 and her master’s degree from Unity College in Maine at age 14, Dorothy Jean Tillman recently completed her Ph.D. in integrated behavioral health from Arizona State University. Dorothy Jean is the founder and CEO of the Dorothyjeanius STEAM Leadership Institute in Chicago. She is determined to inspire youth and to provide pathways for the next generation.
Best known for his popular roles on Tyler Perry’s The Have and the Have Nots on the Oprah Winfrey Network and in Harlem on Amazon Prime, Tyler Lepley attended Kutztown University on a football scholarship. With his professional football dreams deterred, Lepley graduated with a Criminal Justice Degree. After being discovered in a Los Angeles gym, he found a new dream of acting, and the star is determined to make an impact on the industry and the world.
Other speakers include Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, US Congressman Bill Foster, Indian Consul General Somnath Ghosh, and Aurora University President Dr. Susana Rivera-Mills.
The ceremony is free and open to the public. Tickets are available at www.aurora-il.org/MLK
— City of Aurora