Dear Friends,
In case you haven't made plans for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, here are the events happening today and the rest of this week:
MONDAY Jan 18
Many Helping Hands 365
RACIAL JUSTICE CONVERSATIONS ON ZOOM: Register HERE
2:00-2:30 pm -- MLK Day Welcome Gathering: An Act of Remembrance with Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and other special guests! Led by Elijah Booker and Niko Emack of My Brothers Keeper Cambridge.
2:30-3:25 pm --The State of Activism: What's next? Where do we go from here? While our national elections are behind us, issues about racial injustice, the pandemic, and ongoing deep political divisions have highlighted that there is much more work to be done. Join us to begin setting an agenda for the path forward. Our distinguished panel will include a broad range of community activists and leaders. Led by My Brothers Keeper Cambridge.
3:30-4:25 pm -- From Protest to Policy! How Youth Can Take Action to Make Change in Their Community. What change do you want to see? Who are the decision makers? How do we accomplish our goals? Arielle Jennings, Executive Director, Generation Citizen Massachusetts, will lead the session with Lowell High School teacher, Jessica Lander, and a student activist on action civics and how young people can make change in their community. Led by Generation Citizen Massachusetts.
4:30-5:00 pm - MLK Day End of Day Gathering. Led by My Brothers Keeper Cambridge.
Many Helping Hands 365
HANDS ON SERVICE PROJECTS ON ZOOM: Register HERE
2:30-4:30 pm -- Valentine-Making to Distribute to Elders, Homeless Adults and Others in Our Community Open to everyone. Led by Many Helping Hands 365. Pick up your packet for making 3 valentines from locations in Cambridge TBD. Stay tuned for the locations which will have supplies by Saturday, Jan 16.
2:30-4:30 pm -- Scarf and Blanket-Making to Distribute to Homeless Children, Teens and Adults Open to everyone. Led by Many Helping Hands 365. Pick up materials from front of 74R Fayerweather Street, Cambridge, beginning Saturday, Jan 16.
TUESDAY Jan 19
'Markers and Reminders: MLK to BLM': Register HERE
3 p.m. Tuesday. The Harvard Square Business Association says it plans to have several speakers address "essential aspects of our local and national history with regard to black icons and activists." (A portrait of singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone by artist Lennie Peterson has been installed in the Out of Town News Kiosk in Harvard Square "as a prelude to Martin Luther King's Day," the association says.) City councillor E. Denise Simmons will talk about the significance of local landmarks, including the Prince Hall memorial on Cambridge Common, followed by an interview with Imari Paris Jeffries, executive director of King Boston, about plans for the Center for Economic Justice and the design for "Embrace," a three-story memorial dedicated to King. Learn more at cambridgeforum.org.
Many Helping Hands 365 Racial Justice Conversations: Register HERE
6:30-7:30pm -- MLK and the Leadership of Women: Women in the Civil Rights Movement Then and Now. On the eve of inaugurating our first female vice president (and first vice president of color), we will remember the women who worked with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to help propel the Civil Rights Movement; and reflect on how far we've come since then and where we need to go from here. Led by YWCA Cambridge.
WEDNESDAY Jan 20
Many Helping Hands 365 Racial Justice Conversations: Register HERE
8:00-9:00 am -- MLK as a Moral Leader: The Role of Houses of Faith in the Civil Rights Movement Then and Now. Conversation will be led by local faith leaders including Rev. Lorraine Thornhill, Rev. Dan Smith, Rev. Larry Kim and others.
THURSDAY Jan 21
Many Helping Hands 365 Racial Justice Conversations on ZOOM: Register HERE
6:30-8:30 pm -- MLK as a Radical. Panelists include: Blaine Yesselman, Revere High School, Assistant Principal; Melissa Colon, Bunker Hill Community College, Professor of Behavioral Sciences; El-Mahdi Holly, Georgia House of Representatives, Ayesha Wilson, Cambridge School Committee Member; Frank Barnes, My Brother's Keeper Cambridge Taskforce. Led and moderated by Tony Clark of My Brother's Keeper, Cambridge Task Force.
I am sad to not be together celebrating the life and honoring the work of Dr. Martin Luther King. I am thankful to see our Cambridge community committed to knitting us together in a day of service learning and listening--even if it is virtually. Over the next few weeks you will receive communications from my office that summarize the legislative accomplishments of the last two years and the legislative goals of the next session. I am privileged to represent a community that is committed to honoring Dr. King's work through our values, priorities and efforts. It is my greatest joy to know that with your support I can continue to carry your commitment to racial, economic, environmental justice.
I leave you with a few of my favorite Reverend Dr. King's quotes that feed my soul. The truth is I was so lucky to take an intense college seminar with the esteemed Professor Bill Strickland at UMASS Amherst on the life of Dr. King and Malcolm X. Here are a few excerpts from the many words and speeches of his that speak to the fire that fuels my values and my life's work:
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- "We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear."
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- "The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
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- "Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism."
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- "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."
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- "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Sincerely,
Marjorie