MLK event bringing youths from throughout state to LC

One hundred to 150 middle and high school students from across New Mexico will be in Las Cruces June 2-4 for the eighth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Conference.

Any student age 12-18 who signed up at attend the conference at no charge, said Jamar Cotton, who is coordinator of the MLK Jr. Commission Youth Leadership Program in Las Cruces.

The theme for this year’s conference is “DREAM (Determined, Realistic, Eager, Ambitious, Mindset).”

Courtyard by Marriott at Las Cruces NMSU, 456 E. University Ave., is home base. Main sessions of the conference will be held at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road. This is the first year the conference has been held outside of Albuquerque.

Because participants come from all parts of the state, conference participants have “an opportunity to learn from people they don’t see every day,” Cotton said. “Life in Las Cruces is different from life in Gallup or Farmington.”

Participants also will learn useful leadership skills, share ideas and culture, get help as they prepare to enter college, receive mental health guidance and learn about Martin Luther King’s six principles of nonviolence, said conference planner Beverly Gaines of the Black Education Act bureau.

The commission is sponsoring the conference along with the Black Education Act, which is part of the New Mexico Public Education Department’s Identity, Equity and Transformation Division. The ENLACE program is also a sponsor, along with businesses in Las Cruces, El Paso, Deming and Alamogordo, the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs and Las Cruces Public Schools, through Associate Superintendent of Equity, Innovation and Social Justice Roberto Lozano.

Here are highlights from the conference schedule of events:

Thursday, June 1 (Courtyard by Marriott)

• 3-9 p.m.: Registration
• 6-8:30 p.m.: Pizza, movies and game night

Friday, June 2 (Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum)

• 9 a.m.: Welcome from MLK Commission Executive Director Leonard Waites.
• 10-11:45 a.m. and 1:30-2:15 p.m.: Breakout sessions
• Noon-1:30 p.m.: Lunch and keynote speaker
• 2:45-4 p.m.: New Mexico State University tour led by Jamar Cotton
• 7 p.m.: Talent show, featuring Kimberly York of the Black Education Act and disc jockey Malcom Shelby

Saturday, June 3 (Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum)

• 9 a.m.: Depart for White Sands National Park visit, which continues until 11:30 a.m.
• 1:45-3:30 p.m.: Tour downtown Las Cruces and visit Grounded, 300 N. Main St.
• 7:15 p.m.: Dinner and awards presentation at Amador Live, 302 S. Main St.

Sunday, June 4 (Courtyard by Marriott)

• 10 a.m.: Buses department to take participants home

“Kids can have a weekend of fun based on Martin Luther King’s vision of nonviolence,” Cotton said.

“It’s a safe space for kids,” Gaines said. “We’re looking to do great things in Las Cruces.”

Conference sponsors and coordinators “make it very big for kids,” she said. And, participating adults “get to learn a lot from these kids.”

For more information, contact Gaines at 505-533-5606 and Bevieg52@gmail.com.

Visit www.nmmlksc.org.