As Tulsa celebrates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., younger generations in Tulsa – and elsewhere – sometimes ask how relevant the civil rights leader is to their lives.
Those who lived through King’s heyday may consider the question disrespectful. Anyone who has witnessed his calls for justice from the podium, or his skillful approach to negotiating for civil rights with politicians or hear his awe-inspiring orations from the pulpit can affirm that his messages are pertinent today.
But for Tulsans of Generations Z and Alpha, the question of whether or how King impacts their lives is real. After all, it’s been nearly a century since he was born and almost six decades since he was assassinated. King’s most high-profile years were in the late 1950s and ‘60s. For many Gen-Zers, that era is often associated with their parents or grandparents.
In Oklahoma, school is not a place students can turn to fill their knowledge gaps about the King era. Few, if any, offer courses in the politics and culture of the civil rights era that King helped lead.
That leaves the work of educating a younger generation to families, churches and some private institutions. Many parents in Tulsa use MLK Day to expose their kids to King and his importance. During the Jan. 19 parade, dozens of families, including young kids, lined the streets of the Historic Greenwood District as the displays honoring King passed. Several of the floats, such as The Ed Darby Foundations entry, featured kids.
In a conversation at the parade, one grandparent told The Eagle that when teaching her grandkids about King, she emphasizes how his victories paved the way for the integration of schools, neighborhoods and workplaces in Tulsa and across the country.
Many churches in Tulsa also take advantage of MLK Day to expose their congregants to his legacy and help them understand why it was important and is still prescient. Several churches have engaged young Tulsans in the conversation.
During Sunday’s service at Metropolitan Baptist Church, Rev. Ray Owens, the church’s spirited leader, called two of the congregation’s young members forward to attest to the impact of King’s legacy on their lives.
The members were winners in the 2025 essay competition that the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Society sponsors. Every year the Tulsa-based nonprofit invites students to submit essays describing how King has impacted them.
Khloe Bowman, an eighth grader at Centennial Middle School in Broken Arrow, was the first-place winner in this year’s competition.
“King’s dream has influenced my choices and opportunities by allowing me to live in a diverse neighborhood and attend schools with students from different cultures,” Bowman said during the church service. “Dr. King has also impacted my moral choices,” she added. “He has taught me to look beyond skin color and look to people’s character.”
Carter Bradford, a seventh grader at Carver Middle School, was the second-place winner in the essay contest. Because of King’s legacy, he said, “I have attended diverse schools where I was not judged by my skin color but by my academic ability.” Bradford added that “King’s dream has also encouraged me to pursue my dream of becoming a medical doctor.”
At All Souls Unitarian Church in Brookside, church leaders blended young voices in its MLK Day service on Sunday. Several school-aged congregants joined in a reading of King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
On Tuesday, Jan. 13, One Gas named Daniel Thomas, a Broken Arrow High School junior, the first-place winner of its oratorical contest. In a ceremony at the company’s Tulsa headquarters, Thomas recited the “I Have a Dream” speech. He received a $2,500 award for the prize.
On Sunday, the First Baptist Church of North Tulsa held a special service to honor King and lift up his lessons. Politicians, community and faith leaders came forward to reaffirm his lasting impact on their lives and their visions. First Baptist Pastor Rev. Anthony L. Scott, Owens, Mayor Monroe Nichols and District 1 Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper were among the speakers. They each stressed the impact of King’s work in Tulsa– including its importance to younger generations.
“Dr. King’s dream is alive and well at City Hall,” Nichols told the congregation. “He died fighting for economic justice in Tennessee. In Tulsa, we are carrying on that fight.”
