Inside a small conference room at the Eiseley Branch Library last week, more than a dozen students from middle and high schools across Lincoln rehearsed and critiqued their speeches over and over again.

The group has been preparing for months now to tell their stories and let their voices be heard at the 29th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Rally on Jan. 15 — a day intended to remember and honor the late civil rights leader through student performances.

The students have been working hard writing, researching and editing to create impactful, original pieces — some incorporating adaptations of famous speeches and others pulling from their own lives — that they will perform during the rally.

Their effort will be worth it, though, said Pete Ferguson, who advises the group, because when the time comes to take the stage, he’s confident they’ll be ready.

“They're gonna crush it, whether they mess up a line, whether they forget something, whether they stumble or whether they bring the crowd to its feet,” he said. “Our focus that day is just making sure that we empower, educate, inspire.”

The rally will kick off at 10 a.m. on the morning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the Centennial Room at the Student Union on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s downtown campus, with doors opening at 9:15 a.m.

The entire event will also be available to livestream through the LNKTV Education website, LNKTV YouTube and the City of Lincoln's Facebook page.

The event is organized by members of the rally’s planning committee — made up entirely of students — and will feature speeches, reflections and music performed by students.

“The adults, their presence is in the seats,” Ferguson said.

This year, the group is focusing on the theme “Walk Together With Love,” a message Rafa Ahmed has found inspiration in.

“When Pete first told us the theme, I feel like it kind of just helped me see love everywhere,” the sophomore at Lincoln North Star said. “It’s honestly just a reflection of who I want to be.”

Ahmed is among the students who will perform at the event and will recite a poem she wrote herself telling the story of her mother’s journey to find the “sweet syrup of freedom” after immigrating to America.

“I wanted to do something about being an immigrant. It's a really big part of who I am,” she said. “My mom is my favorite person ever and her life story is so similar to so many others, but it's still uniquely hers.”

Ahmed isn’t only excited to share her mother’s story, but for the chance to use her voice in a meaningful way and to encourage other young people — like her little brother and sister — to do the same.

“Youth aren't really listened to or are not really a big part of conversations that we should be a part of,” she said. “So being able to stand there and talk to people who can't talk back or tell me to be quiet or anything, it's going to be hopefully super powerful and influential for the students.”

This is the second year Breklin Dyson, who will also perform an original piece, has taken the stage at the rally, but before that, she watched from the crowd. So, when the seventh-grader at Irving Middle School had the opportunity to join the planning committee, she took it.

And she hasn’t looked back.

“It changed my life,” Dyson said. “It's powerful work, and it's empowering kids, the next generation, to change the world.”