Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, the first African American woman to serve on the Superior Court of Santa Clara County (from 1988 to 2001), will deliver the keynote address at the City of Hayward’s 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration.

This year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration will take place at the Hayward Unified School District Performing Arts Center, 2390 Panama Street, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Held each January on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday, the celebration is free and open to the public.

The event will feature Judge Cordell’s remarks and performances by the Hayward High School Jazz Band, Mt. Eden High School Dance Program, Bret Harte Middle School Praise Team and the combined Hayward Unified School District Choirs.

Judge Cordell has been a trailblazing icon of the Bay Area legal community since graduating from Stanford Law School in 1974. From establishing the first private law practice in predominantly African American and Latino East Palo Alto, to overseeing Stanford Law’s admissions program as the school became a leader in minority enrollment, her work on law enforcement oversight and service on the San Francisco District Attorney’s Innocence Commission, Judge Cordell’s decades-long advocacy has pushed the legal field forward.

Following the event, a recording will be posted to the City of Hayward YouTube channel and broadcast on KHRT, available on the City's website and on local TV channel 15.

Watch the event live here