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WNYC and The Apollo Present MLK26: The Pan-Africanist

Restitution & Reconciliation in a Global State of Emergency

Hosted by WNYC’s MICHAEL HILL, BRIAN LEHRER, and JANAE PIERRE, with WQXR’s TERRANCE MCKNIGHT

Sunday January 18, 2026 at 2pm at The Apollo Stages at The Victoria in Harlem
Event to be recorded for broadcast on WNYC on Monday, January 19 at 3pm & 8pm; special to also air on YouTube & public radio stations across the country
Presented in collaboration with March On!

(New York, NY – January 5, 2026) — WNYC celebrates the 20th Anniversary of its annual celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by partnering again with The Apollo for MLK26: The Pan-Africanist — Restitution & Reconciliation in a Global State of Emergency. Held for the first time at The Apollo’s new stages at the Victoria Theater, the event will take place on Sunday, January 18, 2026 at 2pm. It will be recorded and broadcast on WNYC and public radio stations across the country on Monday, January 19 (see local listings).

Anchored in the historic moment of Dr. King’s 1957 journey to Ghana, the program traces King’s vision and commitment to global liberation to the modern-day call for justice.Through conversation, performance, and reflection, this year’s gathering connects the struggle against colonialism and segregation to today’s fights for equity, freedom, and dignity across the African Diaspora. Together, we examine restitution and reconciliation not as lofty  ideals, but as urgent imperatives, linking Accra to Atlanta, the global past to our shared present.

“For 20 years, WNYC’s Annual MLK event has brought together scholars, journalists, activists, and artists to honor Dr. King – not as a symbol of our historic past, but as a multi-dimensional leader whose legacy continues to speak loudly and urgently to our time,” said LaFontaine Oliver, President & CEO and Executive Chair of New York Public Radio. “We’re proud to do this work in partnership with The Apollo and March On!, and to make this programming available to audiences in New York and worldwide.”

“Dr. King called on us to listen deeply, act collectively, and remain accountable to one another,” said Michelle Ebanks, President & CEO of The Apollo. “Together with WNYC and March On!, we are honored to create space for reflection and dialogue that invites our communities to engage with Dr. King’s legacy —one that continues to shape our present and future.”

“Dr. King understood that the fight for justice was never confined by borders,” said Kim Callinan, Executive Director of March On!. “We’re proud to partner with WNYC and The Apollo to carry that global vision forward — through art, dialogue, and collective reckoning.”

The conversation will be hosted by WNYC’s Michael Hill, Brian Lehrer, and Janae Pierre, along with WQXR’s Terrance McKnight.

Guests include:

  • Dr. Robert Vinson, Director & Chair of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American & African Studies at the University of Virginia and author, King in Africa
  • Marc Morial, President, National Urban League
  • Sandra Babu-Boateng, Diasporic Digital Media Executive
  • Brandon Terry, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and the co-director of the Institute on Policing, Incarceration, and Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research; author of Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope (NYT’s 100 Notable Books of 2025)

LaFontaine E. Oliver, President & CEO and Executive Chair, New York Public Radio; Michelle Ebanks, President and CEO of The Apollo; and Isisara Bey, Artistic Director of March On! will give opening remarks.

Due to capacity constraints at the venue, seating is extremely limited. MLK26: The Pan-Africanist — Restitution & Reconciliation in a Global State of Emergency will be recorded for broadcast on WNYC on Monday, January 19 at 3pm & 8pm on WNYC 93.9 FM, AM 820, and www.wnyc.org, as well as on public radio stations across the country and on WNYC and The Apollo’s YouTube channels. For more information, please click here.

ABOUT WNYC
With an urban vibrancy and a global perspective, WNYC is New York’s public radio station, broadcasting and streaming award-winning journalism, groundbreaking audio programming, and essential talk radio to the city and beyond. WNYC offers its listeners a unique range of local, national, and international programming, including programming from NPR, American Public Media, and the BBC World Service, along with a roster of WNYC-produced local programs that champion the stories and spirit of New York City and the surrounding region, including The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. From its state-of-the-art studios, WNYC is reshaping audio for a new generation of listeners, producing some of the most beloved nationally-syndicated public radio programs including Radiolab, On the Media, and The New Yorker Radio Hour. WNYC broadcasts on 93.9 FM and AM 820 to listeners in New York and the tri-state area, and is available to audiences everywhere at WNYC.org, the WNYC app, and through major digital radio services, all made possible through the generous support of our members, donors, and sponsors.

ABOUT THE APOLLO
The legendary Apollo—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, The Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world. In 2024, The Apollo opened The Apollo Stages at the Victoria Theater, marking the first ever expansion and renovation of The Apollo in its nearly 90-year history. In 2025, The Apollo embarked on its first major full-scale renovation and restoration of its Historic theater to modernize and upgrade its facilities and artist and audience spaces, and is expected to be completed in 2026. For more information: http://www.apollotheater.org 

With music at its core, The Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes the world premiere of the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved; special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo; 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella; and the annual Africa Now! Festival. The non-profit Apollo Theater is a performing arts presenter, commissioner, and collaborator that also produces festivals, large-scale dance and musical works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend The Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens, including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival as well as other multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.

Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, The Apollo has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at The Apollo are Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, H.E.R., D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Machine Gun Kelly, and Miri Ben Ari; and The Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy. For more information about The Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.

ABOUT MARCH ON!
March On!, originally founded in 2013 as the March on Washington Film Festival in Washington, DC, was established to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The inaugural festival drew over 1,000 attendees to ten impactful events across the city over two weeks, laying the groundwork for what has become a powerful platform for storytelling and social justice.

Held annually in Washington, DC, the flagship March On! Festival celebrates and amplifies the untold stories and unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement while connecting them to today’s movements for equity and justice. Through film screenings, panel discussions, live performances, and community gatherings, the festival fosters dialogue and brings together audiences of all ages, classes, and ethnicities to reflect on history and inspire progress.

Over the past decade, the March On! Festival has grown into a national social justice arts movement, engaging tens of thousands of participants globally. Notable past contributors include literary icons Nikki Giovanni and Ta-Nehisi Coates; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Eugene Robinson and Hank Klibanoff; former U.S. Attorneys General Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch; celebrated artists like Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Diahann Carroll, Yara Shahidi, and 9th Wonder; and prominent Civil Rights leaders such as Joyce and Dorie Ladner, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rep. Raphael Warnock, Julian Bond, and Judge Damon Keith.

Through its programming, March On! continues to honor the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and inspire action for a more just and equitable future.