Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged people to take an active role in addressing issues of public concern.

His mission of civic engagement is shared by the YWCA.

The YWCA in Butler is honoring King and calling on people to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves at the Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast beginning at 8 a.m. Monday on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Elizabeth Short, executive director of the YWCA in Butler, said the organization decided to host a Martin Luther King Jr. event after not having one for the past several years.

“It's very aligned with our mission. The YWCA's mission is to eliminate racism, empower women, stand up for social justice, help families and strengthen communities. His ideals are obviously aligned with what we do today and our work for social justice,” Short said. “He called people to civic engagement.”

She said the YWCA is also calling people to civic engagement this year by encouraging people to vote and participate in the census.

“The census affects over $675 billion in funding from the government and apportionment. We want an accurate count, so we get our full share of funding for child care, roads and school programs,” Short said.

This year's keynote speaker for the event is Dr. Belinda Richardson, vice president for academic affairs at Butler County Community College and a member of the YWCA board of directors.

More than 20 years ago, Richardson served as the director of early childhood development for the YWCA in Summit County, Ohio.

“Dr. Richardson is someone who is incredibly dynamic. She is a leader in our community. She has a very deep connection with the YWCA. She really is the perfect keynote speaker for this event,” Short said.

Richardson said she feels humbled and honored to speak at the breakfast.

“Through my address, I want to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his mission, and at the same time I would like to use the occasion to draw hope, inspiration, knowledge and wisdom from our examination of our history,” Richardson said.

She said King's work for civil rights remains relevant today. King believed in the power of truth and his work still teaches people what to do when confronted with truth, Richardson said.

Her address will also call for people to support the YWCA and its mission.

“It's important that we send out a call to action for our individual members in our communities to stand up and advocate for those who are, in many cases, without voice and without the resources and knowledge to advocate for themselves,” Richardson said. “I'm excited to share a message of hope and encouragement.”

King was a Christian minister who became a leader in the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Born in Atlanta, Ga., King advocated for civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience inspired by his Christian beliefs and the activism of Mahatma Gandhi.

King led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and, in 1957, became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He led an unsuccessful struggle against segregation in Albany, Ga., in 1962 and helped to organize the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Al. He helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped organize the Selma to Montgomery marches.

King expanded his focus to include opposition toward poverty and the Vietnam War. He alienated many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled “Beyond Vietnam.” FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover considered King a radical and made him an object of the FBI's counterintelligence program beginning in 1963.

In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated April 4 in Memphis, Tenn.

King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971 before it became a federal holiday with legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.

What: Martin Luther King Jr. BreakfastWhen: 8 to 9:30 a.m. MondayWhere: Butler YWCA, 120 Cunningham St.Cost: $15INFORMATION: Call 724-287-5709