Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday of Service

The Minnesota Humanities Center sponsored a number of cultural events to kick off 2025, including Sweet Potato Comfort Pie’s 10th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday of Service on Jan 19, 2025. Since 2015, this event has brought people together to not only commemorate the legacy of Dr. King, but to forge connections, amplify Black culture, and encourage solidarity. More than 500 people gathered to attend the event at the Metropolitan Ballroom in Golden Valley, Minnesota.

The Sweet Potato Comfort Pie (SPCP) model is a deeply cultural and unique approach to community-building and racial healing. The sweet potato pie tradition itself has strong roots. Throughout the turbulence of United States history, this pie has been gifted as a gesture of comfort during times of trauma and also celebration (read more about the African American food tradition of the sweet potato pie). In 2014, after the murder of Michael Brown, Rose McGee turned to the pie as a small gesture to bring healing to Ferguson, Missouri and the Sweet Potato Comfort Pie organization was born (learn the full story here).

SPCP’s annual MLK event includes a “Weekend of Service” with baking and workshop activities. Volunteers gather to bake the number of sweet potato pies that represent Dr. King’s age if he were alive today (this year 96 pies). This starts the process of connection and conversation, and baking activities are intermixed with story circle discussions and shared learning. This year, 30 volunteers baked together and participated in story circles.

These pies kicked off the January 19th event day with the “Procession of the Pies” — a powerful visual tribute to Dr. King. The 96 pies were marched through the venue to the stage in procession by community members, volunteers, electeds and SPCP team members while accompanied by African drumming from Baba Jesse’s Heart and Soul Drum Academy. The program then moved into speakers, artists, choirs, live visual arts, Beloved Community Awards, a photo exhibit of local racial justice heroes, and a powerful musical performance from Jamela Pettiford. 

A key component of the program each year is the facilitated “story circles” that take place at each table. During this time, attendees have prompted discussions about racial issues of the day. This year, attendees were prompted to discuss how they can build and uphold Beloved Community. Story circle discussions also provide time for attendees to recommend someone they would like to honor with one of the 96 pies — a person or group in need of encouragement or deserving of recognition for important community work. In the days following the event, the 96 pies are brought to these honorees and people spend time listening to stories and deepening connections. 

Sweet Potato Comfort Pie board chair Niila Hebert said, “Despite this year’s extremely cold weather, people showed up! They were joyful and eager to just be in a space that offered comfort. It was the eve of the inauguration and with that came a lot of unknowns. The diversity of the crowd was truly beautiful — an affirming and powerful vision of the ‘Beloved Community’ that Dr. King would have been pleased to see. Over the past 10 years of this event new alliances have been built, spirits raised, and caring and love communicated. The impacts are long lasting and humbling to watch. We thank MHC and all our sponsors for empowering SPCP to provide this event to the community.”