‘We are 99.99% the same,’ host of PBS’ ‘Finding Your Roots’ tells MCC’s MLK luncheon audience
It was an MLK luncheon noteworthy not just for its dynamic speakers and majestic venue but also for humor and several “standing O’s.”
The 2025 edition of the Chancellor’s Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Luncheon, held Jan. 17 at Kansas City's Union Station for the first time, raised $482,000-plus ($82K of that from the audience-participation Fund-A-Need portion). About 1,200 guests attended the event, which boasted 98 sponsors. The five 2025 MLK winners, one from each Metropolitan Community College campus, receive scholarships worth a year of MCC tuition.
The emcee was new, too: Nick Haines, British-accented host of “Kansas City Week in Review” on Kansas City PBS (aka KCPT). The engaging national guest speaker was Henry Louis Gates Jr., referred to by Haines as “America’s genealogist in chief.” Gates is best known as host (among other roles) of PBS’ celebrity genealogy series “Finding Your Roots,” but he has a long resume: author, filmmaker, cultural critic, Harvard academic and more. (Here in KC for our luncheon, Gates claimed to have discovered the secret of a long life. Keep reading.)
Gates said his original vision for a TV show was focusing on the personal histories of Black people. Before “Finding Your Roots,” what you might call a prequel show of his did just that.
“My whole brand was blackness,” he said. But ultimately he opted to expand the brand by making a multi-ethnic and multicultural documentary-style series. “I decided I would do what Noah did. I did two Jews, two Catholics, two Asians … ”
“I hate any kind of hatred,” Gates said on the MLK stage. “Any kind of hatred is wrong.” And “Finding Your Roots,” a show that celebrates and shakes the family trees of people of all stripes, became a big hit for PBS, Gates says — destination TV. Its 11th season debuted earlier in January.
More memorable quotes and moments from the event …
A FIXTURE IN THE COMMUNITY
MCC Chancellor Kimberly Beatty“Who would have thought … that a little girl raised by a single mother in Pittsburgh on assistance would become chancellor of such a great institution?” — MCC leader Dr. Kimberly Beatty, reflecting on her own history and journey, which prompted a standing ovation from the Union Station audience
“MCC has a long history in this community. In fact, did you know that MCC is 110 years old this year? … Did you know that we have risen from an outgrowth of a high school to an institution that will be offering a bachelor’s degree in respiratory care beginning in 2026!” — Dr. Beatty
INSPIRING OTHERS, JUST LIKE ALVIN BROOKS
MCC Trustee Jermaine Reed and Jackson County Legislature Chairman DaRon McGee introduced the recipient of the fifth annual Alvin Brooks Kansas Citian Inspiration Award.
Keynoter Henry Louis Gates Jr.Brooks is a cherished community figure and social justice champion. As friend and mentee Reed pointed out, Brooks, 92, has worn a lot of hats over the years, including police officer, police commissioner, city councilman, mayor pro tem and founder of the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime. He tells his story in the 2021 book “Binding Us Together.”
The 2025 Brooks award winner was Bridgette Williams, a respected force in the region’s construction industry who serves as executive director of the Heavy Constructors Association (“the Heavies”) of Greater Kansas City.
Bridgette Williams (right), recipient of the Alvin Brooks Kansas Citian Inspiration
Award, speaks at the luncheon. Brooks himself is third from left, with Dr. Beatty,
DaRon McGee and MCC Trustee Jermaine Reed.In a video, community leaders sang Williams’ praises, calling her strong, forward-looking and no-nonsense. Plus, she’s pretty much one of a kind:
“She is an inspiration because she’s a woman in a business that historically has not only just been men, they’ve been tough men … and then you add to it not only her gender but (an) African-American woman who rose to be the head of the Heavy (Constructors) Association in the Midwest! And it is absolutely amazing. … in any city around the country, you will not find an African-American woman, or a woman, running the heavy contractors jobs.” — U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D, Missouri’s Fifth District) in the video
Williams took the stage to thank her husband and kids. Being practically the only female in her business isn’t easy, she said, but it’s constantly a learning experience.
“I wouldn’t change any experiences I’ve had. You learn from it. If you keep learning, you keep growing.” — Bridgette Williams
MEET THE 2025 MLK SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Chancellor Kimberly Beatty with MLK scholarship winners Vincent Rodriguez (from left),
Jin Jiao and Paden Ruckman (the other two recipients couldn't attend). Billy Dunbar
of the MCC Foundation is at far right.
Vincent Rodriguez, MCC-Maple Woods, studying art
“(MCC has) helped me learn more about what I love to do. It helped me hone my skills as an artist. And it helps me appreciate what I love to do far more than I did years ago.” MLK luncheon donors and sponsors, “if it wasn’t for your help and your consideration and your time, I don’t know what I would doing here,” Vincent says. “So from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you.”
Jin Jiao, MCC-Blue River, studying computer science and information systems
“MCC offers affordable tuition and fees compared to other colleges. MCC has (also) helped me improve my English, which is important for me.” She says the MLK scholarship is “a significant encouragement for my education”: When she’s weary from studying or otherwise overwhelmed, “I can cheer myself up and persevere” by thinking about the wonderful learning opportunity the scholarship affords her.
Paden Ruckman, MCC-Longview, pursuing a degree in software development
“MLK’s legacy has shown me the importance of perseverance, equality and the use of education as a tool for change.” Paden says attending MCC lets him advance his education while balancing other responsibilities, such as holding down a job and serving his church.
Jazzmyn Bryant, MCC-Online, studying psychology
MCC “made it convenient and easy for me to get back into school to further my education.” Also, donors and prospective donors, your attention please: “I would like to thank the people that made this scholarship possible,” Jazzmyn says. “It’s really making a big impact and a difference in my life.”
L’yneal Vanreed, MCC-Penn Valley, studying health information management
“As a full-time employee and full-time student, (MCC) helped me with flexibility. MCC had a positive impact on my life and education. It helped me focus on what I wanted to do in life, especially career-wise.” As for civil rights hero Dr. King, “Martin Luther King has definitely influenced my education. Not only that, my entire life,” L’yneal says.
“Students, we wish you every success as you complete your academic journey with us here at MCC, and know that you are making history not only for yourselves but also for your family! Congratulations again.” — Billy Dunbar, MCC vice president of institutional advancement
THE LOST MEMBER OF THE GATES FAMILY
Henry Louis Gates Jr. told a long, humorous tale, the point of which was to convince the audience that he just might be a Gates of local barbecue fame. He had lunch here with 92-year-olds Alvin Brooks and Ollie Gates at, of course, Gates BBQ. Along the way, H.L. Gates may have uncovered the answer to an eons-long mystery …
Dr. Beatty shares a moment with speaker Henry Louis Gates Jr. as he comes off the
stage.“The secret of longevity is eating all that pork!” Mr. “Finding Your Roots” also asked his secretary to send DNA kits to his new potential relatives, the Gateses of Kansas City, after hearing family members eat free. “I’m going to analyze the results myself,” the MLK speaker said, and he just had a feeling they’d end up being related.
More from Henry Louis Gates:
“The one thing you might not know: I attended a community college my freshman year!” (That was “the real reason why I am here today.”)
In the 10 complete seasons so far of “Finding Your Roots,” Gates’ three favorite clips, which he showed the MCC audience, feature actors Tea Leoni, Mandy Patinkin and LeVar Burton. Another great moment: Larry David and Sen. Bernie Sanders finding out they’re cousins.
“It is the past that tells us who we are. Without it, we lose our identity.” — a quote from the late theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking that Gates pulls out when asked why “Finding Your Roots” is so popular
“At the level of the genome, we are 99.99% the same.” Anyone who says otherwise, Gates adds, is “an enemy of democracy.”