Key Moments in our Lifetimes:
(Click on the year above the button, select the year, and see major events that happened)

2010
Theme: "United We Can"
19th World Leader: Alice Paul
Keynote Speaker: Rabbi Paul Yedwab, Temple Israel
Community Leader Recipient: Ms. Julie Rodecker Holly
Dialogue Speaker: Imam Achmat Salie, Oakland University
2010 Button Designer: David Kakos, WBHS Junior
Ms. Kelly Gunn, Vocalist: National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing and We Shall Overcome
Combined WB School Choirs
WBHS Concert Choir
WBHS Dance Team
Lawrence Yaldo, WBHS Class of 2000: Balloon/Stage Decoration

2009
Theme: "United We Live"
18th World Leader: Barack Obama
Keynote Speakers: Tuskegee Airmen
Area Congregations Host MLK Interfaith Outreach Services
Community Leader Recipient: Dr. JoAnn Andrees
Combined WB School Choirs
WBHS Step Team
WBHS Men's Chorus
WBHS Laker Express
Dr. King's 80th Birthday Celebration

2008
Theme: "State of the Dream"
17th World Leader: Oprah Winfrey
Timothy Orikri, Nigerian Artist, Inspired by Dr. King
Rev. Jonathan Sams who worked with Dr. King in the 1960's
Allen Park High School Jazz Band
WBHS Soul Singers
WBHS African American Awareness Club Step Team performed
WBHS Laker Express
State of the Dream Video Interviews
Allen Park & WBHS performing a program of Illusion Theater of Minneapolis, MN
Combined choirs: Allen Park, Avondale & WBHS
Charles Russell, Gratitude Steel Band
Allen Park High School Drum Line
Dialogue Session for Adults and Young Adults

2007
Theme: "Dare to Live His Dream"
Mosaic Youth Theater performance of "Speak for Yourself"
15 and 16th World Leaders: Coretta Scott King and Paul Rusesabagina
Remarks by Rwandan journalist Thomas Kamilindi at the candlelight vigil
Ealy Elementary 5th grade choir
New Teen Congress
WBHS African American Awareness Club Step Team performed
WBHS and Allen Park High School combined choirs performed
The Youth dialogues were facilitated by WBHS and the University of Michigan students this year.

2006
Theme: "Hold Fast to His Dream"
14th World Leader: Rosa Parks
Dr. King's 77th birthday celebration at the candlelight vigil with cake from Opera Pastries
Combined West Bloomfield Abbott and Orchard Lake Middle Schools choir
Adult Oratory Contest
Detroit School of Arts Vision Male Ensemble
West Bloomfield High School African Awareness Club
Tyree Guyton presents Heidelberg "Shoe" Project

2005
Theme: I Have A Dream That We Can All Be Friends
I Have a Dream Speech: Tony Bradley, NBA Players Association, Atlanta, GA
Amazing Grace: Multi School Ensemble
Presentation: Children of Abraham Project
The Maples Arabic Music Ensemble, Dearborn, MI
WBHS Gospel Choir
APHS Choir and Jazz Band
Green School Fifth Grade Choir

2004
Theme: Honoring the Dream, Uniting Community
Keynote Speaker: Rabbi Josh Bennett, Temple Israel
10th Anniversary Video featuring original organizing committee members and supporters
Introduction of WBHS Gospel Choir
Program Finale: Award Winner vocalist, Thornetta Davis, and joint APHS and WBHS Choirs
Elementary Diversity Fair
Middle School Program
Teen Multi-school Chat
APHS Jazz Band and Choir
Adult Dialogue Workshop: Josh White Jr./JET Theatre

2003
Theme: Building a Peaceful Community, Today for Tomorrow
Keynote Speaker: Rev. Kevin Turman, Pastor of historic Second Baptist Church in Detroit
Presentation of Resolutions for a Peaceful Community
Disability Awareness Workshop
Adult/Youth Dialogue session
APHS Choir
WBHS Choir
Teen Multi-school chat

2002
Adult Dialogue participants plan visits to churches, temples, mosques and synagogues throughout the year
A second auditorium program on Martin Luther King Day is added to give students and adults an opportunity to witness Dr. Michael Fowlin's "You Don't Know Me Until You Know Me"
A large elementary choir performs parent David Mayer's composition, "Children's Anthem" under the direction of Maryellen Sobestsky
Keynote Speaker: Huel Perkins, Fox 2
WBHS/APHS Choral
WBHS Jazz Band
Abbott Middle School-Stages-Fame
unitedwewalk.org website is launched with assistance from WorldWise, Inc.

2001
Alumnus Johnson, joined by '99 graduate and singer Carmen Woodruff, return to perform to the delight of the audience
Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm serves as the keynote speaker
School outreach extends to Wayne County with the addition of Allen Park High School
Cranbrook Peace Foundation awards its Expanding the Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. grant award to United We Walk - its first major grant. A year-long lecture series, leadership development activities and new outreach and communications tools are planned as a result.
Abbott Middle School-Stages
APHS Jazz Band
Avondale High School Choir
Walled Lake Western High School Troubadours

2000
Senior Candace Johnson writes and performs United We Walk's second original song, "We Are One"
Organizers take the year's theme, "Building the Dream…Friend by Friend" literally by inviting schools from across Oakland County to participate
Orchard Lake Rd. is completely closed to traffic for a new 1.5 mile walk loop between Green and Walnut Lake Rds.

1999
West Bloomfield Clergy Association sponsors first Candlelight Vigil on the eve of the walk
King contemporaries Dean Robb and Claudia Morcom provide reflections
Community Conversations, dialogue sessions are added after the walk's conclusion to respond to participants' interests in discussing how the day's themes impact their personal lives
Orchard Lake Middle School Jazz Band
Abbott Middle School Choir
Keynote Speakers: Hon. Claudia Morcom and Dean Robb, Civil Rights Activist

1998
New pre-walk program concludes with a multi-language message to bestow peace on walkers
WBHS/Abbott Middle School Choirs
Remarks: Rabbi Michael Moskowitz, Pres. W.B. Clergy Association
Remarks: Stuart Brickner, Hon. Denise Langford Morris, Jeddy Hood

1997
New walk route takes marches through neighborhood south of WBHS
High school senior Tracey Phillips writes and performs the first original UWW song in tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, entitled "Come With Me"
Coretta Scott King Letter to United We Walk Read at Auditorium Program
Proclamation from Mayor Dennis Archer, Mayor of Detroit
Video Keynote Address: Rev. Kenneth Flowers, Greater New Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit
WBHS Choir

1996
Gordon Bleich directs a combined choir of fifth grade students for several selections
Harpist: Onita Sanders
Keynote Speakers: Rev. Wilma Johnson, Harford Memorial Baptist Church Father William Murphy, Our Lady of Refuge Church, Rabbi Norman Roman, Temple Kol Ami

1995
The first United We Walk event took place on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 16, 1995 at Orchard Lake Middle School, on Orchard Lake Road (walk path) and at West Bloomfield High School. General Motors provided shuttle service.
United We Walk's 1st Planning Committee: Hertha Woodruff, Beth Borson, Sheryl Johnson, Denise Kelley, Shirley Barksdale, Brian Kaplan, Sharkey Haddad, Tom Stimmel, Mano Yono, Diane Venn, Pamela Bentley, Lance Davis, Nancy Gavoor, Esther Small, Shelley Willner, Judy Canosa, Elaine Schonberger, Margo Edwards, Debbi Yono, Ann Allen, Polly Friend, Charlene Mitchell-Rodgers, Joan Groves, Kwai-Fong Tse, Debbie Macon, Beauty Ovbije-Onomake, Andrew Groen, Diane Ferguson, Esther Peterson, Ida Goutman, Fran Denawetz, Katherine Sheiko, Ernie Robinson, Carla Jones, Ken Gutman, and Marsha Tucker.
Keynote Speakers: Rabbi Joshua Bennett, Temple Israel, Bishop Andrew Merritt, Straight-Gate Church, Rev. Frederick Johnson, Convenant Baptist Church
Orchard Lake Middle School/Abbott Middle School Vocal Ensemble We Are the World Musical Finale

1994
Parents who were members of the Multicultural Awareness Committee of Orchard Lake Middle School successfully recommended to the West Bloomfield Board of Education in February that the school district observe the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday by cancelling classes, beginning the next year. In October the Multicultural Awareness Committee of Orchard Lake Middle School proposed that a multicultural community walk be held on the upcoming Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Holiday. Dr. Seymour Gretchko, Superintendent of West Bloomfield Schools, approved it upon request. Original design of the United We Walk logo was created by Orchard Lake Middle School students: Kinyel Ferguson and Crystal Roberson.