Representing a new generation of leaders, Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, N.J., will be the featured speaker at the 21st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast at 7 a.m. on Jan. 17 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.    Booker took the oath of office as mayor of New Jersey’s largest city in July 2006 and was re-elected for a second term in 2010.

Elected with a bold vision for the city, Booker is particularly committed to improving lives through education. Last September, for example, he – along with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – launched the Partnership for Education in Newark, a commitment to improve public education with the support of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and chief executive officer.

As the breakfast keynote speaker, Booker joins a prestigious list of event speakers that includes:

The theme of this year's breakfast is "The Dream: Rejoice, Reclaim, Renew Community."

The annual holiday breakfast is an opportunity to celebrate the life and legacy of the man and movement that not only changed civil rights laws for all Americans, but set in motion the drive for human rights reform worldwide.

General Mills and its employees and retirees long have been supporters of the breakfast (video). A committee of more than 30 volunteers – primarily General Mills employees – plans and hosts the event each year. 

Continuing a community service component that was begun three years ago, General Mills employees will have the opportunity to participate in five hunger-related service projects in the Twin Cities on Jan. 14-18. The efforts will support People Serving People, Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities, Hope for the City, the Emergency Foodshelf Network and the Minnesota Children’s Museum.

The 2011 breakfast also will include presentation of the Local Legend and Emerging Legend community service awards, and performances from singer Paris Bennett and actors from the SteppingStone Theatre.

The event, which typically sells out each year, will be broadcast live on Twin Cities Public Television.

As in past years, the St. Paul Area Council of Churches will host several simultaneous free breakfasts that allow guests to watch the Minneapolis event on television.

The annual holiday breakfast is sponsored by UNCF – United Negro College Fund – and the General Mills Foundation.  

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