>> COVERAGE OF MINNESOTA'S 2012 MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY BREAKFAST IS SPONSORED BY UNCF, UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND AND IS SUPPORTED BY THE GENERAL MILLS FOUNDATION.

FEATURING KEYNOTE SPEAKER NAOMI TUTU.

ALSO SPEAKING, THIS YEAR'S CHAIR OF THE 2012 MLK BREAKFAST COMMITTEE, KOFI BRUCE, AND MUSICAL SELECTIONS PERFORMED BY THE STEELES.

♪ MAY WE FOREVER STAND TRUE TO OUR GOD ♪ ♪ TRUE TO OUR DAY ♪ ♪ TRUE TO OUR GOD ♪ TRUE TO OUR DAY ♪ ♪ TRUE TO OUR GOD ♪ ♪ TRUE TO OUR NAME ♪ [ Applause ] >> GOOD MORNING.

AND WELCOME TO THE 22nd ANNUAL Dr.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., HOLIDAY BREAKFAST.

MY NAME IS KOFI BRUCE, AND I AM THE CHAIR OF THIS YEAR'S EVENT, BROUGHT TO YOU BY UNCF AND THE GENERAL MILLS FOUNDATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION.

WE ARE EXCITED TO BE BACK TOGETHER AS ONE COMMUNITY TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF DR.

KING.

LET ME INTRODUCE OUR HEAD TABLE.

REVERAND GLORIA ROACH THOMAS, SENIOR PASTOR OF CAMPHOR MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IN ST.

PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SHARON SMITH-AKINSANYA, AREA DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR UNCF.

ELLEN GOLDBERG LUGER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GENERAL MILLS FOUNDATION.

AND, TODAY'S KEYNOTE SPEAKER, NAOMI TUTU.

[ Applause ] IN THE AUDIENCE ARE SEVERAL DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, INCLUDING GOVERNOR DAYTON, U.S.

SENATORS KLOBUCHAR AND FRANKEN, U.S.

REPRESENTATIVE ELLISON, MAYORS RYBAK AND COLEMAN, AS WELL AS OTHER PUBLIC OFFICIALS.

KEN POWELL, CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF GENERAL MILLS, LEADERS FROM VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS AND CORPORATIONS IN THE TWIN CITIES AS WELL AS OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY.

I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS YEAR'S BREAKFAST COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO PUT IN A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF TIME AND ENERGY OVER SEVERAL MONTHS TO ORGANIZE THIS EVENT.

THEIR REMARKABLE COMMITMENT HAS MADE THIS GATHERING POSSIBLE!

EYE ASK THAT THE MEMBERS OF THE MINNESOTA NATIONAL GUARD AND OTHER BRANCHES OF SERVICE HERE IN ATTENDANCE TODAY WOULD STAND AND THEN I ACKNOWLEDGE ALSO THOSE PATCHING IN FROM AFGHANISTAN.

I'D ASK THE MEMBERS TO STAND SO THAT WE CAN RECOGNIZE THE SACRIFICE YOU'RE MAKING ON OUR BEHALF.

[ Applause ] TRULY AN INSPIRATION TO COMMIT AND TO SERVE.

BUILDING PEACE AND UNITY WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY IS OUR THEME TODAY THAT AND WE'RE PLEASED TO BRING EVERYONE TOGETHER TO REFLECT AGAIN ON Dr.

KING'S INSPIRATION, HIS LEGACY AND HIS CHALLENGE TO US.

WHAT BEGAN 22 YEARS AGO WITH 800 PEOPLE, HAS NOW BLOSSOMED TO NEARLY 2,000 PEOPLE AND CONTINUES TO BE AN INSPIRATIONAL EVENT WE LOOK FORWARD TO EACH YEAR.

AND WE REJOICE AT THE REACH OF THIS EVENT.

TO OUR 6 NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKFAST LOCATIONS ACROSS ST.

PAUL, MAHTOMEDI RIVER FALLS WISCONSIN AND DULUTH, MINNESOTA, AS WELL AS OUR VIEWING AUDIENCE ON TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION.

WE SEE IN DR.

KING A CHALLENGE TO PUT OURSELVES IN A LARGER COMMUNITY, A BELOVED COMMUNITY AS HE CALLED IT, ONE IN WHICH REDEMPTION WILLS OUT OVER RETALIATION, UNDERSTANDING OVER HATRED, AND NON-VIOLENCE OVER AGGRESSION.

JUST AS MARTIN LUTHER KING REMAINS A BEACON FOR THOSE SEEKING A PEACEFUL PATH TO END OPPRESSION, HE TOO, WAS INFLUENCED BY SOME CRITICAL GLOBAL FOREBEARS, NAMELY, MOHATMA GHANDI, WHO LED THE PEACEFUL STRUGGLE FOR INDIA'S INDEPENDENCE FROM COLONIALISM.

LARGELY THROUGH NONVIOLENT, NONCOOPERATION.

THUS INSPIRED, HE PUT AS A CENTRAL ORGANIZING TENET IN HIS THINKING THIS CONCEPT.

HE WROTE, "THERE IS ANOTHER ELEMENT THAT MUST BE PRESENT IN OUR STRUGGLE THAT THEN MAKES OUR RESISTANCE AND NONVIOLENCE TRULY MEANINGFUL.

THAT ELEMENT IS RECONCILIATION.

OUR ULTIMATE END MUST BE THE CREATION OF THE BELOVED COMMUNITY."

THIS CONCEPT OF RECONCILIATION BRINGS US TO OUR SPEAKER TODAY, WHOM DR.

LOMAX WILL INTRODUCE, NAOMI TUTU.

SHE COMES OUT OF A COUNTRY WHOSE TORTURED APARTHEID PAST AND ITS SCARRED SOULS BROUGHT TO LIFE THE MEANING OF RECONCILIATION, A COUNTRY WHOSE OWN HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES STOOD ON DR.

KING'S SHOULDERS AS HE STOOD ON GHANDI'S.

A COUNTRY THAT TURNED A PAGE ON ITS MOTTLED PAST, IN LARGE PART, THROUGH A VERY PUBLIC EFFORT, THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS, TO AIR ALL OF THE TRANSGRESSIONS AND GRANT FOREGIVENESS TO THEIR PERPETRATORS.

THERE IS IN SOUTH AFRICA, A CONCEPT THAT SPEAKS TO THE FACT THAT OUR VALUE AS HUMAN BEINGS DERIVES FROM OUR CONNECTION AND RESPONSIBILITY TO ALL MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY.

THIS CONCEPT IS CALLED UBUNTU, AND IS ONE TO WHICH KING LIVED HIS LIFE, EVEN IF NOT CONSCIOUSLY SO.

THIS SPEAKER IS UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO HELP LINK KING TO THE GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS STRUGGLE HE HAS INSPIRED IN PLACES AS AMERICAN AS SELMA AND AS GLOBAL AS SOWETO TOWNSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICA.

FOR HE BELONGS NOT ONLY TO THIS NATION BUT ALSO THE WORLD HE INSPIRED.