State Supreme Court justice Mary Yu, a former Vashon Island resident, will speak at this year’s commemorative service for Martin Luther King Jr., which will be held next Monday evening.

Emma Amiad has organized the event for the past 26 years, with the program featuring a variety of formats and guests in that time, including Yu previously in 2011. This year, Yu said that she will address the question: Where do we go from here? In a conversation last week, she spoke about the importance of optimism, which she called the “real tradition” of this country even though for many people, a pall has settled in since the presidential election. She countered that recent trend.

“The spirit of optimism must shine forth,” she said.

Yu was appointed to the court in the spring of 2014 after serving on the King County Superior Court, and in the recent election, she handily defeated her opponent David DeWolf, a former Gonzaga law professor. Newspapers and organizations across the state endorsed her, from The Seattle Times to the Tri-City Herald. In one accolade, the Tacoma News Tribune called Yu “a rising star who just might be the best appointee Gov. Jay Inslee has made to any office.”

Last week, she noted she feels personally the sense of optimism she speaks about as the first woman of color and the first person from the LGBT community to serve on the court.

“To me, that speaks of opportunity and optimism,” she added.

Despite progress in some areas, she noted that many of the issues that need addressing now were the same issues that needed to be addressed before the election, including growing homelessness, mass incarceration — and related to it — the disproportionate number of people of color in jail.

“A lot of jails have people sitting there because they cannot afford the bail to get out. The presumptions of innocence exists,” she said. “We are still seeing residual effects of the war on drugs. Some policies have shifted, but we still need to do more.”

Yu noted she had not yet written the speech she intends to give, but said she expects she will talk some about the importance of service overall.

“I am not saying everyone needs to give up their job and be zealots,” she added. “We are best and most effective when we act where we are planted: our workplace, homes and communities.”

Yu lived on the island for two years and still professes her love for Vashon and its residents, calling them “kind and giving and understanding.” She encourages people to act locally, including on Vashon, where she noted there is a growing Latina population and a fairly high number of people struggling to get by economically.

For her part, Amiad — a real estate broker and someone who is active in a variety of island causes, said she invited Yu in part because she is an excellent speaker and a fabulous storyteller, but also because she is willing to talk about the aspirations that the judiciary has for the future.

“We have a liberal court in this state and I expect good things,” Amiad said. “So often when there is political upheaval it is the courts that really make the big moves that change everything.”

Yu also addressed being part of the Supreme Court in recent years, mentioning in particular the McCleary Decision, in which the court ordered the state to fully fund public school education in grades K-12. The decision has been met with criticism from some quarters. Yu addressed it directly.

“This is a court that has firmly resolved to decide cases regardless of political pressure. This court will not be intimidated or bought. It is firmly resolved that every child should have a free public eduction,” she said.

Attacks on the court are likely to increase, she added, but she said she and the other justices are determined not to be swayed.

“We will be as faithful as we can to the law, regardless of its popularity,” she said. “ I am proud to be lawyer, a judge and part of the structure of a tripartite government.”

In addition to Yu, the evening will also include music, with guests Kat Eggleston, Wendy Marcus and Shawn Weaver. Amiad shares King’s birthday, and each year she makes the same promise for the event: There will be cake.

On a more serious note, she spoke about the man she has honored publicly for a quarter century.

“Dr. King has been gone over 50 years. He was killed for his beliefs. He was always out on the street and out with people. His strength was not to give up but to work toward light and hope,” she said.

She added that no matter the program for the event over the years, they have worked out well.

“People always come away feeling positive and lifted,” she said. “Sometimes we have to remind people there is a lot of good in the world.”

The free event will be at 7 p.m. Monday at the Katherine L White Hall at the Vashon Center for the Arts.