Wallingford 2021 MLK Day packet

In :Memory of the

Life ancC'Vision of Vr. :Martin Luther Xing, Jr. January 18, 2021

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day January 18, 2021

The Public Celebrations Committee is happy to welcome you to this Celebration.

Today we will share with you meaningful reflections on the thoughts, words, and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from Mayor William W. Dickinson, Jr., Superintendent of Schools Dr. Salvatore F. Menzo, and Mary Heffernan, Martin Luther King Committee. We hope that the messages of our participants will be an inspiration for all to go forward each day and bring to life the dream of Dr. King.

We look forward to renewing and seeing you in 2022 at our usual annual gathering in the Town Hall to honor this great Civil Rights leader.

Roz Gallagher, Chair Wallingford Public Celebrations Committee

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY January 18, 2021

For several decades the Town of Wallingford has publicly celebrated the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. on the anniversary of his birthday. This year, due to the restrictions on gathering together safely due to the coronavirus pandemic, we will not hold this celebration.

It is our hope that the people of Wallingford will pause at some point on January 13th and turn their thoughts towards Dr. King and his work for civil rights and economic justice for all in the United States.

Had we been able to celebrate together, this year we would have honored the late Congressman John Lewis who was mentored by Dr. King, who called him The Boy from Troy, citing Lewis's upbringing in Alabama. At 17 Lewis met Rosa Parks, and at 18 he met King.

Lewis was a man of humble roots who carried on King's work until his death in 2020. He helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, and was the last surviving speaker from that historic day. He organized sit-ins to protest white only restaurants, where he was spat on, had coffee poured down his back and had cigarettes put out on his body. He organized Freedom Rides to protest segregation on interstate buses and at bus depots. One of these buses was set on fire by an angry mob. One of his most enduring acts was leading the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama to protest suppression of the black vote, where he was set upon by police who cracked his skull and beat him bloody. The televising of this act of police brutality led to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Lewis went on to be elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, representing Atlanta, Georgia. He served until his death in 2020, and was known as the "Conscience of Congress". Lewis was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2011. In May of 2020, Lewis welcomed the worldwide protests after the police killing of George Floyd. He considered this movement a continuation of his life's work, and was proud of its inclusivity.

John Lewis was a man of peace who labored tirelessly for equality. When his parents became annoyed with him for being arrested many times for his beliefs, he explained to them that he was getting into necessary trouble, good trouble. He always encouraged others to do the same, to get involved, to speak up, and to get into good trouble.

On January 18th, listen to a speech by Dr. King, watch the movie about John Lewis, Good Trouble, talk with your children about both of these men, and promise yourself you will speak up when necessary.

Mary Heffernen Martin Luther King Committee

Message for Hope

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.

Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I think we all have to wonder how he would feel about the events that our nation has experienced in the year known as 2020 and within the first week of 2021. I am quite confident in my belief that he would be saddened, but as was the case throughout his memorable life, he would not be torn down to believe that change cannot occur.

Rather, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would probably restate to all of us, "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."

We cannot let the acts that have been committed to reduce the rights and significance of others be the final words written in our nation's history, but rather, we need to use 2020 and the events of the early days of 2021 as the launching point for a brighter, safer, more accepting future. I believe Dr. King would want us to choose love rather than hate. He would want us to search for the similarities in thought and philosophy rather than perseverate on the differences. Dr. King would most likely want us to challenge each other to be a better version of ourselves each day in the belief that our actions of sincerity, kindness, respect, and goodness would transform those with whom we come into contact.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." That, too, is our goal as a school district. We must work with families and the community to engage our students in critical thinking and creativity, so that the world they inherit is one that is characteristic of the one we are preparing them to live in and further create for themselves. None of this is easy in a landscape of intolerance and violence. Therefore, educators cannot stand alone. They must link arms with the famil ies and the community at-large to facilitate opportunities for thoughtfulness, consideration, and commitment to providing respect for all members of our community.

Today, I ask that everyone take a step forward and lead. We are all leaders, either formally or informally. It is our collective and individual responsibility to make a difference. As Dr. King stated, "Only in the darkness can you see the stars." It is a dark time right now. But there are stars out there for all of us to see and hold onto. Those stars are HOPE. Catch those stars. Share those stars. Be those stars.

Dr. Salvatore F. Menzo - Superintendent - Wallingford Public Schools

Dr. Martin Luther King Day January 18, 2021 Every person, every day, makes thousands of decisions. Those decisions and resulting actions affect not only the decision maker, but many other people as well.

Some decisions are minor in their impact such as what to wear, or where to eat lunch. Others reflect more readily our attitudes about other people and our awareness of our responsibilities. Our decisions either help or hurt other people.

Martin Luther King's decisions clearly illustrate his desire to peacefully reform laws and attitudes that discriminate, abuse, mistreat and violate constitutional rights of people based upon color of skin. Dr. King possessed the intelligence, courage and empathy to risk his own wellbeing in order to improve the lives of other people.

The values Dr. King expresses benefit not only our Black citizens, friends and neighbors who are mistreated, but also every citizen who is reminded that our culture and country is founded on the need for us to be kind, to work together, to support one another. Our homes, our towns, our states and our country must live up to the high principle that all people are created equal and are endowed with rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Dr. King reminds us that if some people do not have those rights, then what protects the rights of anyone. We all must protect each other.

We ask that everyone in Wallingford celebrate Martin Luther King Day and that everyone commit himself or herself to live the values that Dr. King died for. Martin Luther King lived to peacefully encourage "white" Americans to embrace with kindness and fairness the prosperity and wellbeing of Black Americans. His life and teachings resonate with the drum beat of values that must reside and inspire each of us.

William W. Dickinson, Jr. Mayor

Listen to Lift Every Voice and Sing, a universal signifier of black identity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONgOH tq7-Q&pbjreload=101