Organizers of the 2020 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Countywide Celebration are honored to announce that Dr. Sampson Davis will be the keynote speaker at next year’s event. The celebration will be held on Friday, January 17, 2020, at The Vineyard Church (1500 N. Lincoln Ave., Urbana). A reception will be held starting at 3:00 p.m. and the program will start at 4:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Dr. Davis grew up with his five siblings in Newark, NJ, surrounded by fragmented families, crime, and drugs. A good student, he successfully balanced his academic achievements with what was socially acceptable on the streets by practicing the three D’s – dedication, determination, and discipline. Today Dr. Davis is a board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician at several emergency departments in New Jersey. In 2000, Dr. Davis and his two best friends felt the need to give back to communities in need by creating The Three Doctors Foundation. This nonprofit organization offers a series of free public programs focused on health, education, leadership, and mentoring. Dr. Davis has appeared on numerous national talk shows, including Oprah, The Today Show, Dr. Oz, Anderson Cooper 360, The View, Tavis Smiley, and NPR. He was honored in 2000 with the Essence Lifetime Achievement Award and was also named one of their forty most inspirational African Americans in the country. Dr. Davis is the youngest physician to receive the National Medical Association’s highest honor – The Scroll of Merit.
The 2020 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Countywide Celebration is sponsored by the City of Champaign, City of Urbana, Champaign County, Parkland College, the University of Illinois, and the Village of Rantoul. For more information please visit mlkcelebration.org.
Media Contact: Rachel Joy, City of Champaign, 217-403-8830