Lincoln Journal Star • Zach Hammack • Jan 15, 2023 Updated Jan 16, 2023

The day before last year's Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Rally, Daniel Turner didn't feel well.

He had chills and a cold. Some of his family had tested positive for COVID-19, so he went to an urgent care clinic to get checked out.

Turner.

"(The nurse) came back and she said, 'Yeah, it's positive,'" said Turner, now a senior at Lincoln Southwest. "I was like, 'Wait, I got the rally tomorrow. What am I supposed to do?'"

Luckily, Turner had recorded his speech in advance of the annual student-driven rally that honors the legacy of MLK and rally founder Leola Bullock through speeches, poetry and songs.

Still, it wasn't the same, which makes Monday's 28th MLK Youth Rally — the first in three years that the public is invited to attend — that much more special.

"I've been inviting everyone and their mom," said Turner, one of the only students on the rally's planning committee who remembers what it was like before COVID. "To have everyone there once again, to feel that energy, that vibe … it's super exciting."

This year's rally will begin at 10 a.m. at the student union on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's downtown campus. The theme is "MLK to Me," in which students will reflect on what the late civil rights leader means to them personally.

It builds off last year's theme of "Walk Together," which focused on how the world can take steps toward civility, justice, equity and kindness, said Pete Ferguson, youth development coordinator at Lincoln Public Schools and one of the rally's advisers.

Peter Ferguson is youth development coordinator at Lincoln Public Schools.

The event will also be televised on LNKTV's education channel and livestreamed on YouTube and the city of Lincoln's Facebook page.

Monday's rally will mark a relative return to normalcy. In 2021, organizers shifted it completely online, and last year, only a small number of guests were invited amid a surge in COVID cases.

To commemorate what organizers are hoping will be a packed house on Monday, Turner will perform a speech called "Rally Reunion," a take on a monologue from Cicely Tyson's character in the film "Madea's Family Reunion."

The rally will also feature a performance from fifth graders involved with Belmont Elementary School's TRACKS Scholar program.

Also on Monday, Southeast freshman Addison Olds will deliver her take on King's famous "We Shall Overcome" speech.

To her, King showed that no matter who you are, you can make a difference in the world.

"You don't have to be a certain age or certain gender or a certain race. There's always time to make a change, and that's something MLK has taught me," she said.

Before COVID, students would march from UNL to the state Capitol, where they would perform in the Warner Chamber.

That hasn't been the case the past three years, although Ferguson said organizers may consider bringing the march back in future years.

The pandemic did have a silver lining, though, allowing students to reach a wider, digital audience than in the past.

"We have individuals in Ohio, even Sudan, from California to Kansas, who watched the rally," Ferguson said.

But nothing can replace the atmosphere that a live audience brings. The words of affirmation, the back-and-forth with the crowd.

"I missed hearing, 'You go, baby! You got this!'" said Turner. "Mainly, I missed us all getting together."

Photo Credit • JUSTIN WAN Journal Star