total time: 3.06 minutes
total words: 480
[Unidentified]: I have a, like, century. I don't even have it, but I'm sticking with it. So, I get to know everything. Because I've always tried, like, I have always tried to, like, so that this year, I'm sure that it's going to be a big success. I think it's going to be a big success. So, I think it's going to be a big success. So, I think it's going to be a big success. So, I think it's going to be a big success. We'll likely get them seated in the back. It's not actually what it's after. It's not a chair. So they don't know how it works. And meanwhile, I can already do that. I'll scan their home. So for example, let's say I'm in London. I don't know if I'm going to be able to find all three of these songs just in a second. Well, say you're my lawyer and you know I'm taking a breath outside. Do I understand that? I don't know. I don't know what to say to you right now. Anyway, I'm great, but, like, you know, I have, like, a lot of contracts, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to get through the next four or five years. And now, like, I have contracts, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to get through the next four or five years. And now, like, I have contracts, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to get through the next four or five years. And the other thing is, it's like, the idea is like, CHS is just kind of like, you're not going to be able to help them right now. They're just like, they don't have a place to live. They don't have a school to go to. They don't have a lawyer. I mean, and that's where it gets kind of sticky. It's like, now it's like, no, we'll finish out with patients that we care about, but if they can't start taking them from the baseline, they have to take them from someone else. Yeah, just lay it out. Then the tailwinds are like, oh, but remember, if you bring your people to Lincoln, you don't serve that area at CHL. So, away from people. That's how I feel right now. It's just like this challenge where, you know, everybody wants to sell in a positive way. But like, these things are problematic for the people. And so like, it's just like, you know. Like, you should have been six months prepping for this shit. So I feel like the first, the first person that I'm going to come back and get is the The criteria is spelled out in the process. I'm excited to find out what he's doing. But, you know, I don't want to, like, be interfering with the process that I've been trying to, like, try to improve. She's looking at time. She's in her, she's studying right now. And she's working now. She's working full-time, part-time. Part-time she's working really good, and she's probably doing okay. I'm looking for people to do so. I'm going to ask everybody who can to take a seat.
[Carter]: Somebody's happy? Good morning, everybody. Good morning. My name is Tariq E. Carter, and I direct Elder Services here at the West Medford Community Center. I want you just to take stock of all the history around you, the West Medford Elder Photo Project on the top of the wall, the West Medford Afro-American Remembrance Project that is the circumference of the building and upstairs as well. These are the hearts of our legacy and our heritage here as the historic African-American community in West Medford. We're very, very proud of it. We don't have a chance to see it all today. We hope you'll come back and see it at some point in time. I'm sure Lisa has part of that in her message that she'll share with you. I want to welcome everyone to our very cozy and perhaps a bit crowded home. We recommend, but don't mandate, that you mask up. COVID, RSV, and the flu are all out there. And we want everyone to enjoy today's program and health confidence. So I'll do my best to guide today's proceedings, but I want you to know that we're glad you're here versus all of the other places that you could be. We have Method Community Media in the house, taking pretty pictures and video. A lot of good help. Cat Donnell is back there at mass control. Kyle Douglas is in the corner. Brian Collins, who's my friend forever. I grew up with this dude. You know, playing Rupaul at Duggar Park. OK, never mind. It's back there. So again, we're just really, really happy to have you all here. Now, we sincerely apologize to everybody who wanted to be in the room but wasn't able to make it. Hopefully, the video will suffice so that everybody feels like they got a chance to see what we're doing today. Today's engagement is all about unity, love, justice, equity, and peace. Those key aspects of human society were at the core of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.' 's universal message, both as he lived and as he died. To get us into a reflective frame of mind and heart, I would like to present Rabbi Jessica Delera Nussbaum, from Medford's Temple Shalom to give an invocation as we begin.
[SPEAKER_20]: On the Jewish calendar of Torah readings, we have just begun the book of Exodus, the evergreen story of humankind's journey from oppression and hate toward redemption and devotion. Yet we know that God did not lead us by the shortest path to the promised land, neither the Israelites of the Hebrew Bible, nor the successive generations who have drawn strength and inspiration from Exodus's promise of liberation. God, who created each one of us in the divine image, knew that we needed to get lost and to learn to trust in the possibility of a better world. We needed to walk the paths and do the work of building a society founded on justice. And just as every Jew is commanded to retell the exodus story at the Passover Seder, just as each Seder participant must view themselves as if they personally had been redeemed from Mitzrayim, the narrow place, it remains our labor to see to it that the narrative continues. Our task of building trust in God, however we may understand God, and trust between each other so that we can do this essential work, never ends. Our mandate to be partners in creating a world of righteousness can never cease. Rabbi Tarfon, one of the famous sages of the Talmud, said, Lo alecha hamlacha ligmor, v'lo ata ben chorin levatel mimena. It is not upon you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it. Thus, as today we remember and celebrate Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., let's be sure to view ourselves, as he surely did, as essential partners in the work of fulfilling the promises of justice, both those divine and those simply human. Let us feel gratitude for the freedoms and privileges we do experience, paired with a fierce determination to keep pressing forward, keep bending the arc until we find a world where all human beings can be free and equal. I will quote, as Dr. King did, the prophet Amos Amos, Vayigal kamayim mishpat mitzdaka k'naha etan, let justice well up like water and righteousness like an unfailing stream, now and forever.
[Carter]: Thank you, Rabbi. We appreciate the spirit of love and remembrance in your message. So we're going to begin the meat of today's meal with remarks by our WMCC executive director, Lisa Crossman. Lisa.
[Crossman]: Good morning, everybody. Thank you so much for coming out. I know the weather was treacherous for some of us. And we have been through it all over this two weeks from our heat going out From the power going out, the snow, the ice, the everything, when all obstacles seemed against this program coming together, it came together. It helped me realize that, you know, there are things beyond our control, right? And what I value so much about Martin Luther King Jr. is his leadership. the values that you have to hold as an individual to face all these obstacles, hate, malice, anger, everyone telling you it's not possible, and still have the conviction and values to keep going, and to keep going in peace and with love. Because there are days, we're tested here as well, where we are tested day in and day out. And it's important that, as a leadership, we have clear values on what we stand on. And that we are able to reflect that in the people who follow us. And that we should be reminded as we go into an election year, right, who do our leaders, what do they stand for? And is that in alignment with what I stand for? So I do wanna just touch base. Some of you may not be familiar with who we are. A lot of you are familiar with who we are. We are a nonprofit. We're a 501c3, right? And we are a volunteer membership organization. The work we do depends on volunteerism. We're at a point in life where maybe our younger people don't exactly connect with volunteerism anymore. But volunteerism is important. That's how we got our start. People came together. It wasn't gifted by the city. The people here came together and said, let's do something. Let's get it together. Let's make it happen. So this is 1934, when we were established. The men's clubs is how it started. By 1945, they became incorporated. to promote civic, social, recreational well-being, stewardship of what was originally West Medford and grew to Medford and grew to the greater Mystic Valley. And our mission is to connect people of Medford and the wider Mystic Valley through social, educational, cultural, health, and recreational activities. Our primary goal is to support this idea of community, this intangible quality, to where people feel like they belong and that other people have their best interests at heart. So if you've ever been here for an event or an activity today, we hope you feel welcome. We hope you feel embraced and you can feel the love that is in the work that we do. This was genuinely a labor of love. We were here at 10 o'clock last night decorating, 11 o'clock the night before. So it truly is a labor of love over here. Year round, we have activities here at WMCC for folks of different generations and races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, economic status, or any arbitrary division to come together and learn from each other and experience the idea of community. In the 50s, during Jim Crow, this center was incorporated, started by a group of African American men, later to include African American women. you know, racial segregation, discrimination, right? Forced by the laws. So, it arose out of a recognized need for the African American community, which had rooted itself in West Medford, to take care of ourselves. At a time when African Americans were unwelcome across the tracks, beyond the three streets of Jerome, Lincoln, and one side of Arlington. due to the racial discrimination amongst the realtors renting property in Medford. So what's important to see is how far we've come, right? Recently, we were selected by the city of Medford to partner in the resiliency hub pilot. And our goal within that is to elevate diverse communities in positions of leadership, which is something we've always done because our board is a volunteer board. We've always had a strong, diverse board. So within that, we'll have funding to start a CirclesUSA chapter. CirclesUSA works at national and local levels to reduce poverty. We'll be the first agency to have a CirclesUSA in Massachusetts. And CirclesUSA chapters gather people who are motivated to move out of poverty and match them with middle income to high income volunteers who can support and encourage them. So with that work, we will need volunteerism. We will need help to do that work. There's no way that we can carry that load on our own. And so I'll finish up. I haven't been looking at the time, Terry. I apologize. So we'll hear more about this concept of drum majors, which was brought to my attention by Terry. And it was an important speech for Dr. King. And so it made the case that humans have this instinctive desire to be out front, to garner recognition, to be distinctive in some form or fashion, something he likened to the drum major of a marching band. So King argued that the desire for individual greatness marred U.S. society, but he also believed that that desire could be channeled into collective action with everyone acting as drum majors. for justice against the triple evils of racism, capitalism, and militarism. King also believed that when properly channeled, the drive for greatness was a useful trait. He called on each of us to redefine greatness by becoming drum majors in the quest for justice, peace, and righteousness. He was calling on all Americans, but especially black Americans, to engage in collective action aimed at transforming themselves, others, and structures of injustice. And I will finish up by saying, to do this, we must let the spirit of service, of light into the dark corners of our hearts, to empty us of our bitter attitudes that produce words of malice or fits of rage, so that there is more room to give within us. When you come here, we hope that if there's a problem we can solve, we hope that you share. We hope if there's something weighing you down that you're able to leave your problems at the door and come in and enjoy and have a good time. to think that just because you don't see your face on the wall does not mean you do not belong here. Everybody belongs here. This is a community center. It is the first of its kind in Medford as a whole. So I hope that when you leave today, you remember that, that you see myself, you see Terry, our board members who are here, our seniors, and you feel like you're part of our family. I came in as an outsider a year ago, and I am happy to call these people my friends. They care about me and my son, and they didn't know me from the next person. So if I can be as welcome, then so can you. And we hope that you join us for the activities and events that we'll have down the line, because we are here for community spirit. So please remember that and come out and add to that. And that's where I want to end. Next, I would like to introduce our next speaker. She is your mayor in her second term. Please show her a warm WMCC welcome, Mayor of Mariana.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Lisa. Good morning, everybody. People of all ages, it's wonderful to be here today. Thank you to Lisa for planning this amazing event. It was community senator Terry and the board to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I also just want to recognize a few people. Dr. Edouard-Vincent, superintendent of schools. We have State Rep. Sean Garvalli, State Rep. Christine Barber, and then Redford City Council President, Nicole Morell, and City Councilor, Brittany Yellow. I think I've... hosting today, and we know our diversity, equity, and inclusion director, Frances Wojcik, who's watching at home due to car trouble. We were happy to help support this, and we thank you for your partnership. Thank you to the Royal House who also partnered with us to make today happen. Thank you for all who are attending, and thank you for inviting me to say a few words as we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So happy to be here to share thoughts on his impact, reflect with you all, and enjoy the music, poetry, and conversations. The past few years have definitely tested us, but Dr. King's message of equality, love, and hope are still as relevant today as when he originally spread them some 60 years ago. One of the prevailing messages that Dr. King referenced on multiple occasions is the quest for a better future for the youth of America. That's something I constantly grapple with. Will I leave this city and the world a better place for my children and your children? It's a tall task, but it's one we must achieve in order to build on the legacy that Dr. King forged. In Medford and in all communities, we need to continually address the systematic issues that can erode the people's trust. We're trying to do that through our advocacy on many different issues, including the MUP grant, including transit, development, and the environment. We need to lift up the voices of those who often go unheard and champion causes that lead to a more sustainable and powerful future. Embracing Dr. King's leadership and ideals will help us take accountability and honor his legacy and reach those lofty goals of unity. I look forward to the conversation today, to hear everyone talk about their experiences with Dr. King and his message. It has had a profound impact on so many and has helped shape so much of what we are trying to do here in Medford. It's truly special to be able to come together, reflect on the life of Dr. King, and speak on the shared experiences we have dealing with diversity, social equity, and building a foundation of trust in our community. Thank you again to everybody who made this happen, who's here today, who's watching from home.
[Carter]: Appreciate it. And now a song by someone who really needs no introduction. We're proud to present our own Stacey Clayton to share the wonderful ode to sacrificial love, Bridge Over Trouble. Thank you, thank you so much for having me today. I'm so looking forward to sharing with you.
[Clayton]: When you're weary and feeling small, when tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all. I'm on your side Yeah, when times get rough And friends just can't be found Like a bridge over troubled waters I will lay me down like a bridge over troubled water. I will lay me down. When you're down and out When you're on the street When evening falls so hard I will comfort you I'll take your part when the darkness come and pain is all around like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down like a bridge over troubled water. I will lay me down. Your time has come to shine All your dreams are on their way See how they shine And if you need a friend I'm sailing right behind Like a bridge over troubled waters I will ease your mind Like a bridge Over troubled waters, I will ease your mind.
[IByfBf6FgY8_SPEAKER_05]: Okay, all right, let it marinate. Let it marinate, let it get into you a little bit. She always delivers, am I right? All right, very good.
[Carter]: So Dr. King was many things. Among them, brilliant theologian, educated right here in the Bay State. And I'm sure that the vapors have been caught by everyone with regard to the embrace, the monumental statue that's on Boston Common now, which is emblematic of the embrace that he and Coretta Scott King had when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. So hopefully, you all get a chance to see it at some point in time. I've only seen it from a distance, perhaps like most of you. And to me, it's magnificent. And I know art is very subjective. But in my mind, it's just a wonderful tribute really to love, absolutely. Among Dr. King's many writings, the sober and compelling letter from Birmingham jail remains a most instructive message of why we must continue to actively and non-violently pursue his goals of racial equality and social justice. Now that letter is about 17 pages long and would take about an hour to read in its entirety. I've enlisted my daughter, Maya N. Carter, a stage actor working in Brooklyn, New York, and beyond, to assist me in presenting an abbreviated version of Dr. King's Timeless Reflection. We urge you to have a listen, and later, to read the letter in its complete and original form. It's going to take a little bit, a little minute for us to stage this.
[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_05]: Letter from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 16th April 1963. My dear fellow clergymen.
[Carter]: While confined here in the Birmingham City Jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities unwise and untimely. Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that crossed my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day. And I would have no time for constructive work.
[SPEAKER_05]: Several months ago, the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came, we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.
[Carter]: But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the 8th century BC left their villages and carried their thus saith the Lord far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns and just as the apostle Paul left his village in Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my hometown.
[SPEAKER_05]: Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned with what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial, outside agitator idea.
[Carter]: In any nonviolent campaign, there are four basic steps. Collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist. Negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. We have gone through all the steps in Birmingham. There can be no gain saying that the fact racial injustice engulfs this community. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. There have been unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham more than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case.
[SPEAKER_05]: So we must see the need for non-violent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.
[Carter]: We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dots of segregation to say, wait. But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim, when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters, when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children.
[SPEAKER_05]: I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, We who engage in non-violent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring it to the surface, bring to surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open where it can be seen and dealt with.
[Carter]: I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency. made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of somebody-ness that they have adjusted to a degree, and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security, and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence.
[SPEAKER_05]: Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever, so I have not said to my people, get rid of your discontent. Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. and pray long prayers.
[Carter]: If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable patience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.
[SPEAKER_05]: I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and in some not-too-distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
[SPEAKER_15]: Yours for the cause of peace and brotherhood, Martin Luther King.
[Carter]: Thank you, Maya. As always, I can depend on your heart and your talent to make your old man look good. So now we're going to pivot from the Deep South to the Near North and the Mystic Valley. Among the many things that Lisa Crossman and I talked about in putting today's program together was a local recognition of some folk who Dr. King might have recognized as a drum major. Perhaps not so much as he wanted to be referred to in his memorable speech on February 4th, 1968, but more as advocates of peace, civility, and beloved community. So without further ado, if Lisa Crossman can join me again, we want to present our first Drum Major Awards, celebrating work toward greater equity in the arts, education, civic engagement, and community legacy. All right, now don't be thinking she's being a white all up in here. Okay, so from the West Medford Community Center Incorporated, we are honored to present the 2023 Drum Major Award to David Cha. In consideration of your arts leadership and advocacy, as the principal of the West Medford Open Studios, and your own creativity as a writer and storyteller, we believe that you are an outstanding role model for young people and that you have taken a very direct path to building a place for the arts, as well as diversity, inclusion, and community service in this city. Signed, Lisa Crossman, Executive Director. Date, January 16th, 2021.
[Crossman]: Okay, in consideration of your, oh excuse me, okay, this one is in honor of civic engagement. In consideration of your civic engagement as the Director of Citizen for Citizen and social responsibility in the Medford public school system. We believe that you are an outstanding role model for young people and that you have taken a very direct path to building a place for diversity, community service and social justice in the city.
[Carter]: West Medford Community Center Incorporated is honored to present the 2023 Drum Major Award in the area of education to Dr. Maurice-Edouard Vincent. In view of your courageous and capable administration as a superintendent of the Medford public school system during some very trying and turbulent years, we believe that you are an outstanding role model for young people and that you have taken a very direct path to building a place for diversity, inclusion, educational equity, and social justice in the city, presented and signed Lisa Crossman, Executive Director, date January 16, 2025. All right, but with both loud, we get emotional, so you know. West Medford Community Center Incorporated is honored to present the 2023 Drum Major Award posthumously to Edward L. Buddy Clayton. In view of Buddy's historical significance to the West Medford community and to greater Medford as its first of the Korean War, and as a principal community builder in the early days of this unique neighborhood. We believe that he remains an outstanding role model for young people, and that he took a very direct path to building a place for diversity, community, social justice, and neighborhood in this city. Signed, Lisa Crossman, dated January 16, So we have two of Buddy's sons and one of his grandson here to accept the award. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_15]: All right.
[Carter]: OK. So thank you all, drum major award winners, for your hard work, your dedication, and your inspiration to all of us. You have our admiration and our gratitude. And now we would like to share some more music with you. As they move into place, let me share a bit about them. Singer-songwriter Max Heineck is a true renaissance man. He teaches high school English at Medford High School. He is an active and well-published poet, my poet friend, and is an owner and brewmaster at West Medford's first ever Micro Brewery in Tap Room, Medford Brewing Company, just up the street on Harvard Avenue. You need to stop by and get a pint if that's your place. And it's on this side of the tracks. Joining me on stage is a wonderful musical artist and a former English student of Max's. She recorded extensively on Max's most recent CD project called Through Traveler. I highly recommend it. I was blessed to be able to contribute lyrics for one of the songs on this album. That song is called Healing Waters and Linda and Max are going to favor us with this song right now.
[SPEAKER_12]: Thank you for having us today. It's such an honor to recognize and celebrate an icon like Dr. Martin Luther King. We celebrate him. His courage will never be forgotten.
[SPEAKER_06]: make my burdens just up and fly where I am a humble man alone in this troubled land where all of my dreams want to die healing waters roll by by and by take my poor soul to a place on high
[SPEAKER_07]: Although I'm a native son, I've got no place left to run. Because all of my dreams are gone. But strong I have under this thing, trying to keep my people alive. I've seen so much pain in the faces of those once brought down. Cry, oh, cry, cry.
[SPEAKER_06]: Rest in the valley where freedom lies. Won't stay where my father died.
[SPEAKER_07]: Contemplate suicide. There'll be a fire next time. I have traveled these roads Longing to see justice divine With so much hatred at every stop sign To pull my strength to pass the line Healing waters roll by Make our burdens just a fright fly, hold my trembling hand, as I walk these troubled lands. Oh, oh.
[IByfBf6FgY8_SPEAKER_05]: It's a bit of a revelation. Thank you, Max, my friend, and Linda. That was amazing.
[Carter]: And I'm thrilled that I had a little something to do with your artistic contribution. All right, all right. Robbing game, Timmy Torelli. All right, friends, we're going to be like Jesus' disciples in that separate place near Galilee, and we're going to feed the multitudes. But it won't be bread and fishes. We are asking you to, in an orderly fashion, get your lunch now, and I'm going to be led by other folks in doing this. And then we're going to ask you to come back to your table, and on your table you see a yellow tent card, and on that tent card is a single question. So while you're dining, we want you to contemplate that question. Hopefully there's someone at each table who will be willing to record And as you have your question, as you talk about that question, jot down some notes. And then we'll take two or three reporters, and we'll report out on what took place at the tables during the lunch. It's going to be about a half an hour altogether. There are, I believe, roast beef and turkey wraps, as well as a vegetarian wrap option. OK? So I'm going to let some other folks deal with that, because It's above my pay grade. But while you're having your lunch, please do take time to discuss. There's a pad of paper and a pen at each table for the recording. And hopefully the volunteer won't be too bashful to share a few impressions in about 20, 25 minutes. Don't be bashful. Let's share something meaningful with one another and with the city of Medford. Bon appetit.
[Unidentified]: All right. So if I get everybody's attention.
[Carter]: So I want to make sure that I acknowledge Justin Tseng, City Councilor Justin Tseng, came in and joined us. Thank you so much for joining us in these festivities. So, everybody's had some lunch, been able to lunch a little bit, and that's a good thing. What we'd like to do is, obviously we ask for you to take a look at the tent card and you know, think about it a little bit and have discussions amongst your tables. And we'd like to share just a few, probably just going to ask maybe two of the tables to share what was heard and what was reflected during your conversations at the table. So if I have any volunteers amongst the people who recorded, who wrote, I'll take volunteers first, please, Laura. Okay. So, yes, please, can you come up? Yeah. Just two or three of the points, okay? You know, as quickly as possible, that'd be good. Okay, yeah.
[SPEAKER_19]: Our question was, what lessons has Medford learned from dealing with COVID-19? And I think the big thing is we learned we needed to stay in contact with each other. And we had to find new ways to do that. So that was, well, a lot of us learned how to Zoom. And we appreciated Medford Community Media filming things and arranging Zoom meetings so we could stay in touch with what's happening in the city. We gave a lot of kudos to Mayor Brianna about bringing all the facilities together for shots, vaccination, information about COVID and those robocalls were very helpful too as to what to do. So we think the city did very well.
[Carter]: Thank you very much. Okay. Okay. Do I have another volunteer? I want to get the Girl Scouts table in the back. All right. We're happy to have the troop with us. Yeah, you should get in touch with them if you if you're if you're cookie deprived. I personally need some thin mints. Okay, very good. Please.
[SPEAKER_11]: just hold it right up and speak your outdoor voice okay so our question was how to improve race relations in metropolitan schools so we have realized that there have been a little racial issues in our school with certain kids being racist and calling people racial slurs. So we have realized that assemblies in school don't really help. So we think that you should get a group of students to make up rules and what is okay, what's not okay, and then they can talk about it instead of the teachers. And then the teachers should be more aware of what's going on in the school.
[IByfBf6FgY8_SPEAKER_05]: Thank you very much. I appreciate your time.
[Carter]: OK, we'll take one more very briefly. Eileen, you want to come over to your table?
[Lerner]: So one thing that I've noticed is that most people in Medford have no idea of the rich history of abolition in Medford. We have incredible people here, like George Stern, who was the chief person who gave money to John Brown for his raid on Harper's Ferry. We have Lydia Maria Child, say, how is it that we in Medford don't even know our own history? It's not even on the city website. The city website we have is all about clipper ships and brain crackers. And that is not all the history of Medford is. This was a very important place in the struggle to end slavery, and we should all be cognizant of that. And I think it should be taught in the schools from young ages to teenage, you know, to the high school. But I think one thing that would help race relations if people were educated in the history and understood what went on in the struggles that are still going on today.
[Carter]: We're going to go full intergenerational.
[SPEAKER_15]: Hold this for yourself.
[IByfBf6FgY8_SPEAKER_05]: OK. Yes, please.
[SPEAKER_14]: So we are Sophie and Sean. Our question was, how can New Church help foster better religious relationships in this church? A little louder.
[SPEAKER_13]: We were going to talk about music and cultural food and festivals. and as you said, play dates. And that's it.
[Unidentified]: That's all we have. Okay, thank you very much.
[Carter]: Thank you very much. Okay, so we want to be mindful and respectful of time, and so we're going to stop right there, but I do want to say, These conversations are really just the beginning of what we plan to do with our neighbors here at WMCC, and I would say across the city. Conversations have been taking place for a number of years, but we want to get back to a real focus on what moves us to a greater resiliency as a city and more meaningful connections as a city of neighborhoods that are really far too separated right now, okay? All right, so, known by many, But definitely not all Methodites is the fact that our city lays claim to having the last remaining intact African slave quarters in the Northeast. On 15 George Street, at the ancestral home of Isaac Royal, there is a national historical site that commemorates both the existence and the shared legacy of human bondage here in the Mystic Valley. So today's special message is going to be presented by the Executive Director of the Royal House Enslaved Quarters, Kiara Singleton. Kiara is a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the Department of American Culture. She was also an American Democracy Fellow in the Charles Warren Center at Harvard University during the 21-22 academic year. She has held a number of prestigious academic fellowships And from 2018 to 2019, she served as the Humanity in Action Policy Fellow for the ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. As a policy fellow, she focused on mass incarceration, reproductive justice, and voting rights. She created the ACLU GA's first podcast series, Examining Justice, in order to highlight the voices of both community activists, and policy makers in the fight for racial, gender, and transformative justice. As a public history scholar, Kiara recently served as an advisor of the Boston Art Commission's Recontextualization Subcommittee for the Bronze Emancipation Group Statute. She is also a member of the Board of Public Humanities Fellows at Brown University in Rhode Island, which brings together a collection of museum leaders from New England. She is a scholar, an activist, and a cultural preservationist. Ladies and gentlemen, Kiara Singleton.
[SPEAKER_03]: Good afternoon, everyone. and to have shared the stage with so many amazing artists, performers, and community members. When Terry first reached out to ask me if I would deliver words for today's event, I was simultaneously honored and a bit terrified. I think I said something like, Terry, you know I study slavery, right? I talk about the 18th century. I talk about the 19th century. But once we get to the 20th century, in the Civil Rights era, While I know it, it is not my specialty. And Terry asked me to really just think about the importance of history in our current moment. And so I took a moment to myself and I thought, you know, well, I can do that. I can talk about the long history of black freedom struggles. So as we all gather to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., his life, his activism, his scholarship, his profound love of black people, and his deep commitment to freedom, I want to use this space to also reflect on his radicalism. Now, today is a day where many people will talk about Dr. Martin Luther King and share a lot of his words, oftentimes, sometimes out of context. People will gravitate towards the I have a dream speech, which is extremely important, don't get me wrong, but I've often found myself frustrated by any notion that that speech is the pillar by which young activists today should follow. And why might you ask that I say that? Well, sometimes people use Dr. King as a way to tell black people and people of color to be more peaceful, to agitate within reason, and to order their steps in a way that is about working within the system as opposed to creating a new one. So impersonally, I think this is also a great misreading of Dr. King's words and a misreading of his actions. So I'm going to pull from two of my favorite texts today in my remarks. In his last book, Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community, Dr. King states that there is a tendency in this country to take one step forward on the questions of racial justice and then to take a step backward. This pattern that Dr. King pointed out in 1967 brings extremely true today. In 2020, we all witnessed one of the largest scale social justice and racial uprisings in this country. Protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, led to large-scale conversations around racism and what appeared to be a reckoning with a long history of anti-blackness, systemic racism, and police brutality in this country. Indeed, a step forward in the words of Dr. King, led by the amazing and relentless activists all across the country. However, Dr. King also warned us to never get complacent because of the tendency for this country to quite literally backtrack on progress it made in relation to racial justice. So just two short years after the uprisings in 2020, there's a new study that came out by mapping police violence that just let us know that this year in the United States, police killed more people than any other year that we have on record. Based on this data and cited in a recent article by Dr. Austin McCoy, 1,183 people died by the hands of police officers. Of the people murdered, 25% were black. Now, black people only make up 13% of this country's population. These numbers are extremely concerning. When you dig deeper into the data, you find out that 32% of the people were fleeing, 11% of the people committed no actual offense, 9% of the murders happened during mental health and wellness checks. 8% occurred during traffic stops. And 18% occurred during arrests for non-violent offenses. So I want us to take a moment and sit with these statistics, because they're not just numbers. These are people. They are people like Kenan Anderson, a teacher from DC who was just killed in LA a few days ago. They are people like 20-year-old UMass Boston student Arif Saeed Faisal, who was killed right next door in Cambridge earlier this month. Now some of you might say to me, so where's the uplifting part? Well, that's the thing. When we read and seriously engage with Dr. King's words, he says that it's not unpatriotic to tell the truth, to critique this country and to demand justice. That part of walking in his wake is to own for all of us to own being angry at injustice whenever we see it. And we don't need to apologize for that. And furthermore, we should all be angry and we should be angry in community. And I've been to the mountaintop where Dr. King talks about the economic power of black people in this country and the importance of standing with the striking Medford sanitation workers. He grounds resistance in community. He says, we've got to give ourselves to the struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Medford. We gotta see it through. And we have to march. You need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school, be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike, but either we go up together or we go down together. So we must all ask ourselves if we will succumb to the chaos of systemic racism or fight back for justice in community? I think we have the answer to that. So let me just say that there is no struggle without hope. And we don't have to look very far to see how hopeful we should be. I see the protests for Keenan Anderson throughout the country, and that gives me hope. I see the protests for Arif in Harvard Square, and that gives me hope. We just witnessed Baldwin Hill's tenants fight back against Boston University and win against being displaced from their buildings. and they won the ability to purchase their homes. So as Dr. King said, the line to progress is never straight, and yet the fight must continue. So now, how do I do this work as the head of a museum? So I'm going to transition just a little bit and put on my scholarly hat and turn to the concept of care. In an article by Christina Sharpe, called In to Survive, she says that care is a shared risk. This shared risk to me relates to many of the teachings of Dr. King. When speaking of the sanitation workers again, he asserts, the question is not, if I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me? The question is, if I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them? That is the question. He goes on to say, let us rise up with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days to challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. So for me, a part of understanding American history, a part of getting to that moment where the country can be a better nation, is to seriously grapple with the history of slavery. and the contributions that enslaved people made to building the wealth of this country, but also to building the wealth of right here in Massachusetts. Working in the field of slavery asks us all to bear witness. Bear witness to both the unimaginable violence, but also to bear witness to the ways in which enslaved people, women, men, and children resisted, created lives for themselves, experienced joy, perished, and survived. To hold all of these things simultaneously takes care. It asks us today, how not only do we care for the living, but how do we care for the dead? It takes the ability to go into archives and to look. Look through box after box in hopes of finding documents that provide us with a trace of enslaved people. Sometimes we find a sentence. In the case of Belinda Sutton, we find a wealth of petitions. But we always find something when we look. When we ask different questions, we begin to imagine a world in which enslaved people not only inhabited, but they also shaped. We learn about their multiple attempts of running away to be reunited with their family, the kinship networks they created, and the protests that they had for the peculiar institution of slavery. We learn enslavers placed enslaved people as the heads of their estates in order to resist their properties being seized during war. We are forced also to contend with family separations. We are forced to think about the ways in which children were a part of the institution as well. However, violence is never the cornerstone of enslaved people's history, to quote Marissa Fuentes. Sadia Hartman writes, write our now as if it is interrupted by this past, and to imagine a free state. not as a time before captivity or slavery, but rather as the anticipated future of this writing. For me, no one is more instructive of that than Belinda Sutton, who was enslaved by the royals at the royal house plantation. Belinda Sutton first enters the historical archive on August 14, 1768, when her name appears simply as Belinda in Medford Vital Records. Those records show the baptism of her children. The next time we meet Belinda Sutton is in 1781 through Isaac Royal, Jr.' 's will. In his will, he states, I do also give unto my stepdaughter, Mary Royal Irving, my Negro woman, Belinda, in the case that she does not choose her freedom. If she does choose her freedom, provided that she gets security, that she shall not be a charge to the town of Medford. In 1783, we meet Belinda again, but this time as a member of Massachusetts' relatively small but bustling free population. After obtaining her freedom, Belinda Sutton petitions the Massachusetts General Court in 1783 for a pension from the royal estate in order to support herself and her sick daughter. Belinda's petition is shockingly approved. And she's awarded an annual pension of 15 pounds and 12 shillings, becoming one of the earliest and most significant examples of reparations in this country. So what do we do with stories like Belinda? Well, we should talk about them. We should know about them. It is a part of our local history. But also, they represent a testament to the long history of black activism, of black women's activism, of black women's legal activism. So I know we're in Massachusetts, where we always talk about the revolution. But when we talk about the revolution, we have to also have a different conversation about what is freedom. Freedom did not mean the same thing for everyone at that time. And when you study and when you learn about the enslaved people and the free black people in Massachusetts, what you realize is that they were creating definitions of freedom for themselves. And this is what, for me, Dr. King is very instructive about, thinking about our history to not only imagine what it means to think about what it means to be free, but also being able to rely on the people who came before us, who set the pathway. So I'm going to go ahead and skip, because I feel like I'm running over time. But as historic sites and museums and different organizations embark on the journey to reckon with the histories of slavery, which really does come out of this post-George Floyd moment in many, many ways, especially here in Massachusetts. There is not an institution who is not studying their history and their connection to slavery right now, which is great. But in doing this work, one of the things that I ask people to do is to continuously look. And when you think you can't find anything else, to look again, to think about the archive, to ask new questions, to imagine a world that always centers black people as political agents, to tell new stories, to work with descendant communities, to also talk about the ways in which the afterlives of slavery manifest in systemic racism every single day. And when you think you know everything that you can know, I always say, look and look again. Because to care means to do the work, even when it's hard, and even when it seems impossible. In Tales from the Haunted South, Taya Miles reflects on her fascination with historic homes. She says, I am haunted by homes of the past and the people who occupy them. As someone who runs a historic house museum, I too am haunted by homes of the past and the people who occupy them. However, lately, I've found myself haunted by the people, the descendants of slavery, who never stepped foot into the homes of the past, because some museums continue to erase them for the sake of locating this history as part of an American shameful past instead of reckoning with how the legacy of slavery is all around us today. So I'll end with saying that one of my goals is not only to give people the tools to understand the history, but also to give people the tools to reckon with their current moment today. We absolutely cannot care about black people's freedom dreams in the past if we actually do not care about their freedom.
[Carter]: Thank you, Kiara, for bringing wonderful additional perspective and context to today's celebration. Thank you for coming as you always do with the real and the sincere and not sugarcoating it. We appreciate you. And we're blessed by your joining us today. So it is our sincere hope that folks who have not yet visited the museum and slave quarters, when it opens back up in the spring, will take full advantage of the great history that you preserve right here in our own backyard. And I know that one of the things that Lisa and I have talked about is that we definitely plan on doing is putting a trip together from the community center and bringing folks over to the museum so that they can get the full tour. All right, thank you so much. So I thought a lot about what poem that I would share with you today. You know, they got this thing in Medford now called Poet Laureate. It comes to my recollection, it's never happened before. And for it to happen with me, a brother from West Medford, who could have figured that? In any case, I want to read a piece called A Call to Action. In big cities and small towns alike, America sees a dangerous spike. Violent intent has reemerged as purveyors Lies and hate converge to weave a dark and angry story and rob the flag of all its glory. We are called warriors in this fight. Let us coalesce and get things right and battle for a common goal that speaks to our collective soul. Advancing the causes of truth and peace, striving to make the outrage cease. That's the call of allyship. an anchor for this human trip, not a political bargaining chip, a dialogue chain to pull and rip. When the village gathers to raise a barn, everyone eats good food from the farm. When the village gathers to raise its young, no hate speech is on its tongue. Dr. King called for beloved community. Faith and grace and love and unity. Can these fragrant oils grant us immunity when all around us folks hate our kinship, strange and weak? Let us not allow their prideful rages to force us into a thousand cages. Let's put our smaller wants aside and be the voice that's unified. We can begin right where we are. We can let Medford raise the bar. We can show a fractured land a hopeful future that's now at hand. Look to make a friend today. To gather together, and yes, to pray. Regardless of which God you serve, touch a heart and strike a nerve. Such was the choice that Martin made. And for that choice, he dearly paid. Let's make sure his sacrifice steers the ship that breaks the ice. We're all called warriors in this fight. Let us coalesce to get things right and battle for a common goal that speaks to our collective soul, advancing the causes of truth and peace, striving to make the outrage cease. When this village gathers as Medford Strong, as beloved cousins, let's get along. Across the borders of neighborhood, let's be about the common good. We're all called warriors in this fight. Let's walk in peace and truth and light. your spirits toward participation in our ongoing struggle for equity, harmony, peace, and justice in Medford and beyond. So here with a charge, a mission statement, so to speak, for that hopeful future is our friend, WMCC board member and longtime senior pastor of West Medford Baptist Church, Reverend David M. Kilpatrick.
[w2qazGPKqcY_SPEAKER_09]: Gary asked me if I would share some reflections on Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy, but before I do that, let me share some personal remarks with you. I think I'm the only person in this room that knew Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. personally. In the early 1960s, I was a seminary student in Rochester, New York. In those days, Rochester was owned by the Eastman Kodak Company. Nothing happened in Rochester unless it had the stamp of the Kodak Company on it. Nothing politically, nothing socially, nothing culturally. And the community needed to be organized. And a number of people came to town to help us to do that. One was the infamous Saul Alinensky, whom I'm sure you've heard about. But Martin came as well. And we put together a community coalition to organize the community of Rochester to advocate for itself. And as a young seminary student, I was on the steering committee of the coalition. And several times, we met together with Martin Luther King, Jr. Another interesting fact while I was there One week before he was assassinated, Malcolm X came to our seminary. He had recently been on a pilgrimage to Mecca. And on that pilgrimage, he rediscovered what the Muslim community is all about. People from all over the world, every size, shape, color, background, and realized what unity meant. And he and Martin had talked about that as well. And at that point in their histories, they shared a common vision of the beloved community. So in my reflections today, I'd like to share with you some thoughts about the beloved community. It's probably safe to say that for most of us as young children growing up, when it was time to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., He was mythologized, and he's still mythologized. We learned that Dr. King was a good man who had a dream that one day all would be treated equally and judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. Most of us left those lessons believing that Dr. King had accomplished all that he set out to do, and that we live in a better America as a result. Sadly, that's not true. After all, we no longer see whites-only signs on water fountains and bathrooms in the South. And people of color can attend the same schools as European-American individuals. As we progressed in our schooling, however, some of us have been fortunate enough to be challenged by our educators to observe the ways in which race Our eyes may have been opened to the necessary continued work of the Civil Rights Movement. For many black Americans learning about Dr. King as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. Refusing to disconnect his vision for the world from the Christian vision of peace and reconciliation. However, as Dr. King knew, we cannot get at reconciliation without first knowing and acknowledging the truth, some of which we've heard here today. The hard truth is that for protests and marches and outcries, that the lives of marches and outcries, that the lives of people of color matter. This is evident in the persistent of white supremacy and systemic racism that continue to deny equal rights and opportunities to people of color. Today, black college graduates are twice as likely to be unemployed from European-American college graduates. There's still an awful lot of work for us to do. Emphasis was placed on us because, as in the case of Dr. King, this cannot be the work of one individual or placed on the shoulders of even a small select group of people. Black youth activists and their allies played critical roles in propelling the movement forward and carrying out the work of Dr. King. A beloved community where there is no space for injustice or prejudice or discrimination. Rather, it's a space of economic and social justice The beloved community that Dr. King spoke about is more than just an ideology. In order for us to have such a beloved community, Dr. King said that we all must become outspoken champions. Outspoken champions. He warned that we are all complicit when we see injustice and do nothing about it. He reminded us that we have a moral obligation to stand up for racial and social justice and to dismantle systems of racism and discrimination. The late Congressman John Lewis, a disciple of Dr. King, shared these same sentiments. When you see something that is not right, you have to say something. You must do something. Each of us must do our part to help to build that beloved community. We can trace Dr. King's advocacy for the beloved community to his theology. And so today, in 2023, we affirm that all people are valuable in the eyes of God. While recognizing the historical injustices such as stealing of lands of indigenous peoples, the enslavement of Africans, concentrated poverty and the overall marginalization of minoritized groups, that all continues to play a role in how society is constructed and how we experience it. We believe that in order to fulfill the call to love God and to love our neighbors wholeheartedly, we must be attentive to the ways in which we can unintentionally perpetuate barriers that cause disparities and alienate already marginalized people. Implicit biases, microaggressions, exclusionary or exploitative policies and practices, ignorance of irrelevant cultural events pervade our culture predominantly. What institutions, as a Christ-centered community, and a religious-centered community, we must be attentive to these dynamics and dismantle systems that dehumanize people, as we are all created in the Imago Dei. In the context of community, we believe that the work of diversity and belonging is not only important in creating an inclusive environment where everybody can thrive, but also in allowing the community to demonstrate our religious faith. By celebrating the diversity of our community while also seeking to explicitly address racial and social disparities, we believe that we can reflect the love of God toward others and serve as a beacon of hope in a society that is still plagued by division and prejudice and hate. It's only through creating this kind of life-giving and hospitable community that we can really honor Dr. King's legacy, and in his words, bring to fruition the day when all God's children will be able to join hands and redeem
[Carter]: So I love my brother Pastor. He was my father's pastor for many, many years. And when a pastor says, can you give me two minutes, and you say yes, and then he turns to the next person and says, can you give me two minutes, and he says yes, and he turns to the next person and says, can you give me two minutes, and he says yes, he says, OK, I got six minutes. Thank you very much for your reflections. They definitely were important to the day. I want to welcome Stacey Clayton back to the stage to lead us in James Weldon Johnson's anthem of Black America, Lift Every Voice and Sing. For those of you that don't know the words, we've placed copies of the lyrics at each table, so I'm gonna set it up on the audio and the mic to Stacy.
[Clayton]: As we're standing as your people, and we're getting ready, preparing our hearts to sing, lift every voice and sing. my two senses, make sure that we're intentional at making every voice be at that table. And as we sing, can we reflect on experiences in our own lives where we're serving at a table where we don't see or hear every voice. And one of the things that this song can kind of help us to remember is to help every voice to be lifted. And not just one extra voice either. Let's move away from, you know, just having one person of color on every committee, right? Let's be intentional about diversifying our leadership all the way down. Everywhere we are, let's embrace diversity. Your friendship circles. Let's make sure that they include, your children are getting to see you, be in love with people that are different from you. That goes for us and that goes for everybody else. If we all do it, we'll start a revolution here in Medford.
[IByfBf6FgY8_SPEAKER_05]: So if somebody's going to make a major donation, we're going to upgrade our internet. Did I say that out loud? Yes sir, you did. Sorry man.
[Lungo-Koehn]: All right, let's do it. We can do this.
[Clayton]: Two, three. Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring.
[Unidentified]: Ring with the harmonies of liberty.
[Clayton]: Let our rejoicing rise. High as the listening skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of a new day begun, let us march on. Till victory is won. God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus, far on the way. Thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray. We rest our feet straight from the places, our God. Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee. Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand, true to our God, true to our native land.
[IByfBf6FgY8_SPEAKER_05]: So, the real performer said, we don't need no music, I just need people in the house. So thank you, Stacey. Thank you.
[Unidentified]: Yeah, our people in the Fiskeye.
[Carter]: Okay, all right. All right, we're pretty much at the end of our official time together. I'm gonna turn it over to Executive Director Lisa Crossman for closing remarks and acknowledgements.
[Crossman]: All right, thank you so much for hanging in there with us. So I want to thank the mayor's office, Mayor Brianna and Frances Nwande, our diversity equity and inclusion director over at Bedford City Hall. If you have not been over there, please go over there. Please welcome her. Please talk to her. Share. She's willing to listen. No matter how far back you want to go, she's willing to listen. She's a wonderful woman. She's skilled at what she does. Please, please, please go meet her and talk with her. Thank you to State Reps Christine Barber and Sean Garberly, Congresswoman Catherine Cook for coming. Our Councilors Carol DiEllo, Merrell and Wang for coming through. And of course, Stacy Clayton, Linda Moreau, Max Heineck. And my dad, Elias Carter. Thank you all so much for your talent today. David Kilpatrick, our Reverend David Kilpatrick. Jessica Delara Nussbaum, our caterer, Cook King, who came from Outer Worcester. And our honorees today, David Chow, Richard Trotter, Dr. Maurice-Edouard Francois, and Princeton. And the family of Buddy Clayton. Buddy sits on our wall number 10 and you will find him up here if you have a chance to stick around and read. Also want to acknowledge back to the list, sorry, our board, our wonderful board who has been so supportive over this past year, Brian Collins, Reverend Kilpatrick, Corey Woods, Melinda Regan, and Jacqueline Furtado. Thank you so much. And if you picked up a key chain and you got to see them, there is a little message on the back, but just as we set the course for our organization stepping forward this year, remembering Patience, focus, greatness, determination, vision, and discipline. If there's one thing that you can find to work on, pick one, please. Stay focused on that for this year. We'll be back together next year, hopefully. And we will be doing our, in April, please look out for our annual legislative breakfast. We'll have our legislators back here and have community conversation. It's time for input. Our Juneteenth event, we should be on September, excuse me, We're going to have another fair, a market on the 11th. So we hope to all see you here. You are no longer guests. You now are welcome here. You come in just like everybody else. Jake, look what's in the fridge, just like everybody else. You knock on the door, you interrupt me, just like everybody else. So we're so happy to have you here. And I quickly just want to show a picture here of Mr. Buddy. who grew up as a teenager here, Mr. Cecil Fury. Wave your hand, Mr. Cecil. Mr. Cecil, as a child, grew up here. Same hooligan he is today. So I just want to remind you that. He has been so gracious to me. This is our first time collaborating and he's been so gracious. It's just been wonderful to work with him and this whole community and I hope to be around for much longer and see you all. Thank you for coming out. Enjoy your afternoon. Drive safe out there.
[Carter]: I also would be remiss, we would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge our men in blue. We have two of our members fighting.
[IByfBf6FgY8_SPEAKER_05]: You hear and have been hearing for years Officer Clemente's voice on your telephone giving you all those notices. Words to live by.
[Carter]: So thank you gentlemen, both officers, we appreciate you. And I want to say to Lisa, my partner in crime on this one, not real crime, not anything that you would have to arrest us for. but it's been a pleasure. So thanks everybody for coming out. Thank you, Kenley Tucker and the Senior Club for helping with the decorations and for serving everybody. If we've been remiss, if we've missed anybody, shout it to our heads and not our hearts. We love y'all, we love y'all.
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