Milwaukee Muslims support Marcus Center’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration

Photos by Mouna Rashid

On Jan 19, the Marcus Performing Arts Center hosted the 42nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration recognizing achievements in social justice, acknowledging winners of youth contests and featuring performances by cultural groups.

Whether behind the scenes or on center stage, Milwaukee Muslims enthusiastically participated in the 42nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Monday at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.

Why? Because they revere Dr. King and identify with the African American struggle for human and civil rights, said Othman Atta, director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s oldest and largest Muslim organization.

Muslim Women’s Coalition founder Janan Najeeb, a volunteer on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Steering Committee for more than two decades and its current chair, served as emcee. She and other members of the committee selected the theme, What is True Peace? They also chose the honorees for two major recognitions, the Rev. Joseph Ellwanger Social Justice Award and the Educator of the Year, from nominations from the public.

The volunteer Steering Committee also supported MCPA Senior Director of Community Partnerships Anthony Smith, who is responsible for putting the entire event together—from communicating with schools and securing contest judges to creating the program, inviting public officials and performers and managing all the logistics.

The Islamic Society of Milwaukee has been a sponsor since 2008.

Members of Milwaukee’s Muslim community served among the volunteer judges for the youth speech, writing and art contests. And Muslim students throughout Greater Milwaukee were among the 700 youth participants.

Middle and high school English teacher Natalie Hilgers at Wisconsin’s largest Islamic school, Salam School in Milwaukee, was honored as “Educator of the Year” for “her outstanding commitment to student growth and service in her community,” said a MCPA press release.

Hilgers embraced the opportunity to engage all her students in participating in the essay competition four years ago, when she learned about it as a new teacher at Salam School. The following year she promoted it to her department, which has since provided information and support to all students who want to participate. In addition to Salam School’s students, Muslim students from public and private schools submitted entries to all three competitions.

The Palestinian girls’ dance troupe Banat Al-Huriyah (Girls of Freedom), which welcomes dancers of any faith and has included Muslims and Christians, were among four youth groups that performed. The other groups were: Children’s Italian Dance Group of Milwaukee, the Messmer High School Gospel Choir and the Paj Hnub Hli Dance Group from the Hmong American Friendship Association.

Many Muslim families, including some parents of participating youth, were among the packed Wilson Auditorium, capacity 464.

Salam School English teacher Natalie Hilgers receives Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Educator of the Year 2026.

Cherishing Dr. King

ISM Director Othman Atta explained ISM’s support of the event. “People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Al-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz (Malcom X) were seen as part of the worldwide struggle against racism and colonialism, problems which much of the Muslim world were also experiencing.

“The Muslim community also recognizes that the civil rights struggle in the United States, which was led primarily by African Americans, not only resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Their struggle also led to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which moved away from a Eurocentric immigration policy to a policy that valued greater diversity in immigration. This policy change resulted in the largest cohort of Muslim immigrants that came to the U.S.

“These Muslim immigrants were from a wide variety of nations. According to studies published by the Pew Center on Religion, Muslims in this country are unlike other major religious groups in that Muslims in the U.S. do not have one major race or ethnicity. This is due to the INA of 1965.”

ISM also supports the Marcus Center MLK program “because it focuses on empowering young people and encouraging them to express themselves in speech, writing and art, an opportunity many of our community’s students, from Salam School and other schools, enjoy. Many have been participants and winners over the years.”

“It’s a counterweight to what we’re seeing happening in the country today,” Najeeb noted. “I think it’s really important to continue to teach students that being civil, that valuing human rights, that seeing others as equal, is important.

“In spite of what’s happening in this country, in spite of what’s happening in Gaza, Sudan and so many places, we want to teach our children what we believe is moral and what we believe is our shared responsibility to the world.”

Smith explained, “The purpose of doing this year after year is to continue Dr. King’s message of equality and never allow that message to die as we consider how Dr. King’s message translates to our daily lives—how you treat your classmates, your colleagues, your neighbors.”

Rev. Joseph Ellwanger a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, Alabama, who helped Martin Luther King Jr. and others plan the Birmingham demonstrations and helped organize the Saturday, March 6, 1965, march in Selma to support voting rights, receives the Social Justice Award for his longstanding civial rights work.

What MLK Jr. event meant to young Palestinian dancers

Banat Al-Huriyah, a new dance troupe in Milwaukee, made its first appearance at the MLK Jr. Birthday Celebration. Amelia Bader, Shahd Sawalhi, Mona Hanna and Maryem Mansour performed dabke, a traditional folk dance, to a modern song about loss and resilience.

“(Our performance) demonstrated the steadfastness and interconnectedness of the Palestinian and Black American’s fight for liberation, stemming from our shared experiences and joint struggle,” said Amelia Bader. “The Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter paved the way for new conversations about issues across the globe. Events like this help uplift minority voices and provide a platform to celebrate one’s culture.”

Local Milwaukee girls dabke group Banat Al-Huriyah performs traditional Palestinian dance at the MLK Birthday Celebration.

Shahd Sawalhi added, “Performing a Palestinian dabke to Saint Levant’s “Deira” at the MLK celebration was a powerful way to honor Dr. King’s fight for justice and equality while proudly affirming our Palestinian identity, resilience and unbreakable connection to our homeland. The joyful unity on the stage turned the performance into a living bridge between his dream for freedom and our ongoing struggle for dignity, reminding everyone that cultural expression is a universal form of resistance and hope.”

“Performing our dabke at the MLK event was a powerful and unifying moment for me,” said Mona Hanna. “It was a beautiful reminder that our struggles are interconnected and our liberation is shared. Sharing our story in a space shaped by the pursuit of justice felt truly uplifting.”

MLK Jr. Birthday Celebration special recognitions

Before announcing the winner of the Rev. Joseph Ellwanger Social Justice Award, Najeeb spotted Rev. Ellwanger on the front row and asked him to stand as she described how Rev. Ellwanger had marched with Dr. King in Alabama, where Ellwanger, who is white, was the pastor of an African American church.

“After moving to Milwaukee in the late 60s, he continued this work locally, including founding Project Return, a prison ministry supporting citizens returning from incarceration,” Najeeb said. “Even after his retirement, Rev. Ellwanger served as a grassroots organizer for WISDOM, a statewide coalition of social justice groups, and founded their Reform Our Communities Campaign to reform Wisconsin’s criminal justice system.”

The winner of this award was Andre Lee Lewis, “a revered community leader, agricultural visionary, theater artist and youth advocate whose work has uplifted Milwaukee for decades,” she said.

Najeeb also asked Hilger to stand as she accepted the Educator of the Year award. “For the past 12 years, the Marcus Performing Arts Center has been proud to recognize educators in our community for their outstanding efforts and dedication in encouraging students to express their voice through our annual Dr. King contests.

“Salam School seeks to develop citizens grounded in faith, service and perseverance, fostering critical thinking, leadership and lifelong growth. Natalie Hilgers truly embodies this mission, creating a community where students are supported, challenged and inspired to contribute positively to the world around them. As an English teacher and English department chair, Ms. Hilgers is deeply committed to student growth, working closely with students to strengthen their analytical thinking and writing skills. She also leads in providing service on the Multilingual Day Planning Committee, promoting peace, understanding and a celebration of diverse cultures within the school community.”

In an interview this week, Hilgers told the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, “the contest and program are really powerful and positive. Students have the opportunity to explore topics they otherwise may not get to. It is an opportunity for them to think about things through a different lens.”

Salam School Principal Wanis H. Shalaby told WMJ, “Natalie is a dedicated teacher who has given generously of her time, effort and talent to her students and the whole Salam School community. Not only is she able to effectively raise her students’ mastery level in English Language Arts, but she has also been remarkably successful in raising their awareness of social justice and antiracism.

“As Salam School takes great pride in its faculty, particularly its outstanding English Department—my clear bias—Natalie emerges as a leader and educator who inspires her students in a manner that compels them to follow their moral compass. This is truly an award well deserved.”

And how did it feel to be recognized for your work? a reporter asked Hilgers.

“It was a special moment for sure,” she exclaimed. “I enjoy teaching and I really believe knowledge is power. I enjoy empowering students, and I hope to do so for many more years.” Being nominated by her principal and having her husband at the celebration with their two-year-old to witness the moment made it even more special, she said.

Paj Hnub Hli Dance Group from the Hmong American Friendship Association perfoming at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration.

Salam School students shine

Hodo Ali of Salam School began the MCPA’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration by leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

Other Salam School students took the stage to be recognized for success in the Writing Contest. They included:

Reham Hamed, an 8th grader who took Second Place in the 7th and 8th grade category. Her teacher is Farina Jethu.
Sabir Eisa, a 9th grader who took First Place in the 9th and 10th grade category. His teacher is Amanda Haugen.

Reem Mayo, a 9th grader who took Third Place in the 9th and 10th grade category. Her teacher is Amanda Haugen.