In 1989, 44 of the 50 United States adopted a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In January of that same year, with support from President Joseph W. Polisi and Laurie A. Carter (at the time the director of student affairs and now vice president and general counsel), a group of Juilliard students created a performance in honor of Dr. King’s memory. Since this inaugural performance, the M.L.K. Celebration at Juilliard has been a tradition of dance, drama and music performances uniting more than 400 faculty, staff, students, and alumni. On January 21, 2008, Juilliard will host its 20th annual M.L.K. Celebration. In recognition of the journey traveled and the many lessons learned,The Juilliard Journal is running a series of articles that reflect on past M.L.K. performances and the influence of Dr. King’s legacy. The articles by Lisa Andersen and Barrington Coleman are the first in the three-part series.