[SPEAKER_12]: for decades, decades, decades, decades. Even before finishing her doctorate, she was conducting independent research at the University of Chicago's Marine Biological Laboratory, studying how cells respond to ultraviolet light, hormones, and experimental drugs. These were early steps towards understanding melanoma at the cellular level. After graduation, she joined Harlem Hospital Cancer Research Foundation, working alongside Dr. Jane C. Wright. There, Jewel mastered human tissue culture, growing real cancer cells from patient biopsies so drugs could be tested before reaching human bodies. It changed cancer treatment forever. It changed cancer treatment forever. It changed cancer treatment forever. At just 28, Jewel found her own tissue culture lab at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. a black woman leading independent cancer research in the 1950s. While the funding committees doubted her competence and colleagues questioned her data and journals fought to minimize her authorship, Jewel, she persisted anyway. Her melanoma research revealed how melanin protects cells from UV damage and how cancer cells fundamentally differ from healthy ones, finding that became cornerstones of modern skin cancer science. That became cornerstones of modern skin cancer science. Then came the work that saved lives. In the early 1960s, Juul helped demonstrate the power of methotrexate against skin cancer, lung cancer, and childhood leukemia. Research that helped establish one of the most important chemotherapy drugs in medical history. One of the most important chemotherapy medical drugs in history. a drug still used today and saving lives. But Jewel never forgot the hallway at NYU. She understood that brilliance means nothing if access is denied. So she turned her attention to opening doors. She became a college dean, then earned a second deanship, and in 1981, she broke yet another barrier as the first African American woman president of California State University, Fullerton. There she built scholarships, tutoring programs, and research opportunities for students who had been told, just as she once was, that they did not belong in science. When she retired, she kept mentoring, kept advising, and kept lifting. When Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb died in 2017 at the age of 92, she left behind more than discoveries. She left behind lives saved, institutions transformed, and generations of scientists who never had to stand alone in a hallway and demand to be seen. She was denied entry because of the color of her skin. She showed up anyway. She showed up anyway. And by refusing to accept a closed door, she changed science. And who gets to belong in it forever?
[SPEAKER_06]: Good morning. It seems the spirit of the 60s has returned in every way. Remembering John Lewis, on July 23rd, 2020, Mr. Ray Sean Ray of the renowned Brookings Institute shared this reflection on the late US Congressman John Lewis, titled, Five Things John Lewis Taught Us About Getting In Good Trouble. Indeed, yes, indeed. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America. John Lewis made this statement on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 1st, 2020 commemorating the tragic events of Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday occurred on March 7th, 1965 as peaceful protesters were beaten by law enforcement something we're too familiar with these days, for crossing the bridge. Lewis and others, like Amelia Boynton Robinson, were beaten so badly they were hospitalized. The context behind the march is significant. The 600-person civil rights march was actually about police brutality. Jimmy Lee Jackson, a 26-year-old church deacon, was killed by James Barnard Fowler, a state trooper in Alabama. This march also occurred a year and a half after the infamous March on Washington, highlighting that little had changed in the lives of black people in America. Bloody Sunday was highlighted in Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated best picture film, Selma. Bloody Sunday is often noted as a pinnacle of Lewis' life. Number one, vote always. Your vote matters. If it didn't, why would some people keep trying to take it away from us? Hashtag good trouble. Lewis sent this tweet on July 3rd, 2018. It highlights his work, equitable voting, his life's work. One major part of the Civil Rights Movement was black people gaining the right to vote. This finally occurred with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But the Shelby versus Holder Supreme Court decision in 2013 essentially gutted the Voting Rights Act and paved the way for widespread voter suppression and gerrymandering, which we know they hope to do this year as well. Similar forces, of course. This is why it is imperative for Congress to act swiftly to pass the John Lewis Voter Rights Advancement Act to ensure equitable access to the polls. Lewis was an original freedom fighter, participated in many sit-ins, and was arrested dozens of times for people to have the right to vote. He said, some of us gave a little blood for the right to participate in the democratic process. Some gave their lives. Now, Congress must honor Lewis's legacy and ensure an equitable participation in the democratic process. As Lewis noted, the vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democracy. Number two, you're never too young to make a difference. As a founder and leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, aka SNCC, Lewis was the youngest person to speak at the march on Washington. He was 23 years old. Elder civil rights leaders aimed to taper his words Lewis was critical of the Kennedy administration and the slowness by which broad scale legislation change was occurring at the federal level. Lewis also critiqued civil rights legislation for not addressing police brutality against black people. Imagine how this moment in the movement for black lives may be different had elder civil rights leaders listened to John Lewis. Lewis stated, I want to see young people in America feel the spirit of the 1960s and find a way to get in the way. Lewis stated, I want to see, pardon me, to find a way to get into trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble. Young people can and should push for transformative change and hold us accountable to it. Number three. speak truth to power. Speak up. Speak out. Get in the way, said Lewis. He taught us the importance of speaking up and speaking out. We have to be willing to speak up about injustice always, no matter what the costs. My grandfather who served in two wars earning a purple heart and a bronze star taught me from birth that silence, my silence, is my acceptance. Lewis stated, when you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something. You have to do something. This motto should apply in all aspects of our lives. Feel that one. Lewis epitomizes it and encourages us not to be silent. After reading about his life, you know, I feel like I'm not doing enough. Lewis epitomizes it and encourages us to not be silent. He was adamant about supporting free speech, but he was also adamant about condemning hate speech. I believe in freedom of speech. But I also believe that we have an obligation to condemn speech that is racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic, or hateful. Number four, become a racial equity broker. Lewis is the personification of transitioning from a political activist to a politician. I frame it as transitioning from a racial equity advocate to a racial equity broker. A racial equity advocate speaks up and speaks out, stands in the gap and sits at the table to advocate for people who cannot advocate for themselves. There is a saying, if you are not at the table, you are on the menu and someone is eating you for lunch. Shirley Chisholm said, if they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair. Lewis realized that to make transformative change, he had to be at the table and often bring his own chair. Once at the table, he realized that he needed to help draft the documents that got discussed at the table. This led him to becoming an elected official and a racial equity broker to alter, deconstruct, and restructure the laws, policies, and procedures, and the rules that inhibit racial equity. And last but not least, number five, never give up. When Lewis was elected to Congress in 1986, One of his first bills was the creation of a national museum to chronicle the history and culture and successes of black Americans. The culmination of this bill was passed in 2003 and opened in 2016 as the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Lewis taught us persistence. He taught us that when a person has transformative ideas, they should not taper those ideas. Instead, they should push those ideas until others get on board. Simply because change is slow does not mean change agents have to move slowly towards it. Lewis was a lightning bolt for equity, social justice, and social change. We must continue his legacy and never forget history, always pursue equity, and let's get in some good trouble. Thank you.
[Terry Carter]: I just, just wow, just wow. So thank you all three, my dear friends, Beth and Stacy and Bobby, Robert Hayes. I stand with you in believing that all three civil rights champions changed the world for the good. Their sacrifices are both historic and well-documented. Sharing these reflections gives the opportunity to see Martin Luther King Jr.' 's collaborative influence over so many in the movement. As we move forward, I want us to move even more deeply into today's theme and challenge. So if you don't mind indulging the poet in me, I'd like to share a new piece written for just such a time as this. It's my first time sharing it, and I hope it gets you fired up. Please give this rendition a mindful listen if we don't quit. If we don't quit, we can protest our plight with the alacrity and tenacity of Medgar and Malcolm and Martin. We can purge our psyches of guilt and shame and isolation like Mandela at Robin Island's release. We can pause the clock on the desecration of our tribes and our villages. We can plow the fields of our ancestors and plant the seeds of the dreams they left us. We can post the news of the fall of our demons and pursue new justice with grace and creativity. We can push back against the ugliness and ignorance of a society drunk again with predatory whiteness. We can plan celebrations with our true allies and propose toasts and salute our heroes. We can promote our culture with righteous pride in the face of our detractors. We can protect our progeny, our probity, and our dignity with the content of our character. We can peacefully advance against red lines and black codes and institutional systems of oppression. We can purposefully move the wheels of positive change forward. We can permanently say no to hate for hate's sake alone. If we don't quit. We will vindicate the sacrifices of our lost leaders and slain advocates. We will validate the legitimacy of our journey to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will venerate the greatness of our poets, prophets, griots, and sages. We will rightly divide the testimonies of our seers and record the witness like Ida B., Zora Neale, Maya, and Nikki. We will vacuum up the dirt that a mountain of malice has heaped upon us. We will vouchsafe an inheritance of restoration and repair for a sea of iniquities against us. We will vaporize a legion of assassins who lie in wait for any lack of vigilance. We will visualize with eyes wide open the hazardous ascent of the hellbound and the hysterical. We will vaccinate our young with the overflowing vial of courage under fire. if we don't quit. New histories will avow that we were as valorous as Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey and Sister Rosa. That we rose victorious like Monsa Musa, Shaka Zulu, and the Black Moors who civilized Aryan heathens across Europe. That we called out vociferously to mass denizens who perched in the caverns and bivouacs, come out if you dare. that we form the vanguard who watches over the village in silent strength, that we rent asunder the veils, cloaks, and robes of the angry mobs and frenzied marauders. If we don't quit, we can cast our vote for brown equity and black excellence. We can assemble in new vicinities and new vacancies and new versions of our former vagrancy. We can add glowingly to the lyricist's verses and the composer's canon and the arranger's concerto. We can bring harmony and melody to the mix of global voices who make up our choir. We can pen indelible pages, chapters, and volumes to the stories of a thousand nations. We can be deemed so valiant that the slings and arrows of the bard's decree will cease to call our fortune outrageous. We can regard the night sky with blissful wonder while inquisitors sleep forever in the hard bed of their own fiery damnation. We can be resolute in knowing that their litany of vice will never cradle their heads with aught but recrimination and regrets. If we don't quit, We will give the valedictory address. We will speak of veracity and visions and vanity fair. We will curse visions, vituperation, and vile intent. We will castigate the pervasive virus of racism and social justice in our midst. We will lead the songs of our people. This land is your land. This land is my land. This land was made for you and me. For deep in my heart, I do believe we shall overcome someday. And free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last. Thank you. OK. So. Thank you. Thank you. So. We. OK, let me do it like this. Are you engaged to move forward with us? That's kind of weak. Are you engaged to move forward with us? All right. All right. Let's get a little. Let's get with it. OK, so. the Drum Major Awards. At last year's MLK celebration, we continued a new WMC tradition of honoring epic community leadership in a number of important areas. Today, we'll award our third annual Drum Major Awards, picking up on Dr. King's notion of leading out and being in the business of building beloved community. These WMCC Drum Major Awards focus on the categories of civic engagement and public service, arts advocacy, faith in action. Here to present those awards are Lisa Crossman and WMCC Board President, excuse me, WMCC Board Member Brian Collins. Okay, our first award for civic engagement and community advocacy is given to posthumously our friend and beloved member, Clarence Ed Ligon.
[Crossman]: Terry always said one of the hardest parts of this job is when we begin to lose people, which didn't have an impact on me the first year, but these past few years, this becomes harder and harder. The 2026 MLK Jr. Drum Major Award posthumously to Clarence Ed Ligon, in view of his long-standing civic and social significance to the West Medford community and to greater Medford, As a builder of bridges, a connector, an advocate for racial harmony and justice, particularly as a stalwart member of the Mystic Valley Branch NAACP, we gratefully present this acknowledgement.
[SPEAKER_09]: I'll give it a try. I'm losing my voice on top of everything else, so. Ed would be so thrilled to get this award. He, particularly since both of us retired, one of the things he really enjoyed doing was work with the NAACP and with the West Medford Community Center. And we kind of made sure when we made plans to do things, sometimes it was a little annoying. We had to look at the calendar to see what was on the calendar for the NAACP or for the community center. Because he just loved doing what he did with those two organizations. So, thank you so much.
[Terry Carter]: So, this next award is presented for arts and culture, and it's presented to Adele Travisano. So if you visit the West Medford Community Center, and you should if you haven't, and you stop by our offices where Lisa and I do our business with elder services and her managing the whole biz, there's a portrait of Alonzo Fields, White House butler to four presidents. and he's with Harry Truman. There's also a portrait of Madeline Duggar Kelly, grand diva of West Medford. And there's a portrait of Mabry Dock Counts. And Mabry Dock Counts was the first person to receive full press credentials for the Boston Red Sox and a lot of other national teams. He also covered the Negro Leagues in baseball. He was the first to follow Charlie Booker, who was a Medford firefighter, but before that he was a hockey player, and he was a really, really good hockey player, got a tryout with the Boston Bruins, and could have done some things had race not been such an issue back in his day. But she painted those portraits, they're magnificent. If you haven't seen them, you should. And we just wanted to acknowledge the prominence that she has played in the life of artistic Medford, and particularly in the life of cultural West Medford.
[SPEAKER_03]: West Medford Community Center is honored to present the 2026 MLK Jr. Drum Major Award to Adele Travisano. In view of your longstanding cultural and artistic significance to the West Medford community and the greater Medford, as an outstanding visual artist and preserver of local, regional, and national history, and an avid supporter of the arts, you have been a trusted and loyal friend of the historic West Medford neighborhood.
[SPEAKER_08]: I was so happy to start the Doc Counts Arts Festival, named after my dear friend Doc Counts, Mabry Doc Counts. After I painted portraits in City Hall in 1994, he declared me the Medford Historical Artist. And he said, I want you to paint my sister Madeline and Alonzo Fields for City Hall, and that's what I did. And it just kept going from there. I did Madeline, and then I did O.G. Phillips for the Puyallup Baptist Church. I painted Florence King for herself. She's a lovely lady. I painted Madeline Andrews for the Andrews School. I think that's all of them. I can't remember, but it's been just a privilege and a pleasure to be welcomed into this community. I felt that when I left my hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut, my Italian enclave of a family, that Doc welcomed me into his African American family, and they all embraced me. So I love them all, and I miss them. And I'm just very happy to be there. And thank you very much, Terry. I know you were thinking of me.
[Unidentified]: God bless you. Thank you so much.
[Terry Carter]: And the trophies are really, really lovely. They're a crystal teardrop on a nice base, and they're heavy, so it's good stuff. So now we move on to the Faith in Action Award. And the West Medford community that I grew up in had and has wonderful institutions of faith. The Shiloh Baptist Church, the West Medford Baptist Church, St. Ray Fields, not too far from where we are is the Temple Shalom, Grace Episcopal Church. I mean, I could go on and on. It's a wonderful place for people of faith. And it's made even more wonderful by the recipient of this award, Stacey Clayton.
[SPEAKER_03]: You take it and I'll read it. West Medford Community Center is honored again to present the 2026 MLK Jr. Drum Major Award to Stacey Clayton. in view of your longstanding cultural and spiritual significance to the West Medford community and the greater Medford community. As a child development leader, a music minister, and a gospel choir director, and a beloved professional vocalist, we gratefully present this acknowledgment.
[Clayton]: Thank you. Thank you. I think, you know, that saying, to whom a lot has been given, a lot is expected. And I have been blessed from birth. You know, some of us, we're not necessarily meant to be here, but we're meant to be here. And I'm glad I'm here. I'm glad I'm in this community. Because this has been one of the most special communities I could have ever lived in. I'm so lucky to have found West Medford. Thank you to my husband. Because you guys make heaven on earth by being so welcoming. This is what we were planted here for, to coexist with each other. And let us show the world, starting with our community, how it's to be done. There's no need to be afraid of our differences. It actually is exciting to learn. And it actually enriches us. So thank you for giving me the honor to be with you today.
[Terry Carter]: So something you should be out on the lookout for is every year Stacey hosts a gospel concert commemorating Black History Month at the Somerville Community Baptist Church. It's around the corner and down the street near Davis Square. And it is a wonderful celebratory event. So if you like this, you should check out that. All right. And finally, we've got a lot of snowbirds in West Medford now. They leave and they go down to Florida and Arizona and those kinds of places to get sun while we're dealing with three and four inches of snow and sleet and rain and all that. And our next recipient is a snowbird, so she's not here to join us. I won't say that she's the most interesting, but she is certainly the most determined of our four recipients. She is 103 years old, but she's still vibrant, she's still Fresh. Oh, oh my God, she's fresh. She's fresh like lifting up a mini skirt fresh. You know, and she's a delight. A lot of you who frequent the community center, especially for our senior lunches, know her. She is Gwendolyn Lee, and she is being presented with our Legacy Award. Richard's gonna come get it. And since she's down in Florida with her daughter, Rachel Tanner, the president of the senior club, West Meffrey Senior Club, is going to accept the award for her.
[Crossman]: The West Medford Community Center is honored to present the 2026 MLK Junior Drum Major Award to Gwendolyn Lee. In view of her amazing legacy in the West Medford neighborhood, as well as her active and engaged presence as a centenarian in the local senior community of the historic West Medford Enclave, She remains a cherished mother, friend, role model, and teller of our stories. And she is such a firecracker. We present this award to Gwendolyn Lee.
[SPEAKER_01]: Can you hear me? I truly think this is an honor for me to be able to accept this award. Gwen is a near and dear friend of mine. We speak, since she's in Florida, we speak every week, sometimes twice a week. She, and as everybody says, what Terry just said, this is not makeup. This is 100% Gwen Lee. She is a firecracker. And I mean a firecracker. And if some of the folks here have seen her, she still walks around West Medford. She walks around to the Litty Kitty Park. She'll sit down there when the weather is really good. So I can say, if you see her, That's Gwen Lee, our little 103-year-old. And if the good Lord is merciful, in July of this year, she will be 104. So that is a blessing to all of us, to be able to know somebody that is still able to walk, talk, and still have good presence of mind. So that is our Gwen Lee, and she is my near and dear friend. And it is truly an honor for me to accept this on her behalf. Thank you very much.
[Terry Carter]: So we congratulate, we're extremely grateful for the live contributions of each of our drum majors. Medford really has been blessed by their efforts and their persistent work in building Beloved Community, not only in this city, but beyond. And as you can see, today is a family affair for the WMCC. There is talent. and community spirit all around us, and we try to take advantage of it wherever possible. We have been in existence for 90 years now. We had a gala celebration of our birthday back in December, and we are charging into the future with a can't stop, won't stop attitude. You gotta have friends and you gotta have allies. Don't you all agree? Okay, all right, all right. Great, because we have both and we're showing them off today. Athene Wilson is a talented singer whose career began at the age of seven in a small Pentecostal church in Jamaica Munn. She moved to Boston to start professional singing, her professional singing career, and has since performed in hundreds of venues around Boston and beyond, including the House of Blues and Scholars. Athene's music spans jazz, gospel, and R&B. She has accompanied several local artists and bands. She has performed internationally, including in Germany, France, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, the Caribbean, and most recently in Italy. She's a three-time Boston Urban Music Award winner and has performed at numerous private and public events all over the state, region, and country. She is singing a cappella with a cooperative mission in mind. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Athene Wilson.
[2dmRw3Tp0tA_SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Brother Terry. Thank you all. Good afternoon. All right. So give yourselves a hand for being here. What a wonderful, wonderful afternoon. What a wonderful mission. I'm so happy to be here. So if you'll indulge me for a little bit, we can do this, all right? The song is called, If I Can Help Somebody. I hope these words stay in your heart and this whole day you take it forward. All right? Amen? If I can help somebody as I travel along. If I can help somebody. with a word or a song. If I can help somebody from doing wrong, then my living shall not be in vain. Then my living shall not be in vain. Then my living shall not be in vain. Oh, if I can help somebody as I pass. alone, then my living shall not be in vain, if I can do my duty as a good man ought. If I can bring back beauty in a world abroad, if I can spread love's message as the master taught, then my living shall not be in vain. Then my living shall not be in vain. Then my living shall not be in vain if I can have somebody as I pass along, then my living shall not be in vain. If I can help somebody as I'm singing this song, I know my living shall not be in vain. Thank you.
[Terry Carter]: All right, let me slip into my pastoral anointing for a second. Hallelujah! Glory! Wasn't that amazing? Let's have another howdy round for Athene Wilson. I'm sure Dr. King is watching a lot of what's going on down here on the third rock. Whole lot of Dr. King celebrations taking place all over everywhere, right? But you picked the right one, baby. All right. It has been quite a first half. We're gonna break now for some refreshment and an opportunity for y'all folks to connect a bit more with whoever is at your table. Our volunteers, actually, I'm gonna, so you've been at these tables for a minute now and I'm sure you've noticed some things. First of all, you've noticed how beautiful they are. That is because of the artistry of Ketley Tucker. and the help that she's received from Charmaine Arlene, and Stacey Moore, and Lisa, and Pam Gavin, all here this morning helping to set things right in the room. But you've also noticed tent cards, and on your tent cards are giants of the civil rights movement. And you see all these different names. There are 15 of them. So in order to go over to the table and get you some sandwiches, a little something something to snack on, let's have the Emmett and Mamie Till table go. All right. Emmett Till, as you know, was a young boy that was slain. And Mamie Till, his mother, became a great advocate in the civil rights movement. Okay, folks, we're going to start it moving again. My associate, Charmaine, and those who she designates as help, they're going to come visit your table. OK, so admission of guilt. I was supposed to get a bunch of pens, writing pens, and I failed to do that. So I want to apologize in advance that you'll have to supply your own writing implement for this, okay? That's the first thing, okay? The second thing is, I really, really hope everybody is refreshed and energized. We're going to get into the remainder of our speaking program in a little while, but we just want to take some time to walk you through an exercise of community building at your table. Okay? Just a little while. We want to challenge your minds and your meetups with a group activity. Okay. Now, there are no prizes. And this is not, repeat, this is not a competition. All right? Our contributions may not be equal, but our intentions certainly can be. OK. So at the West Medford Community Center, we believe that we can do more together than we can ever do apart. They say it at my church as well all the time. And Dr. King most definitely believed that as well. His journey in life was marked with collaborations, allies, and partnerships. So coming around to the table, all right, and giving to each of you is going to be a word search, okay? Now, one of our regulars at the West Medford Community Center's senior lunches is a woman by the name of Dorothy King, or Dottie as we call her. And this is her stock and trade. She loves a word search. She has a word search book with her all the time. And that's where I actually got the inspiration for this. But on your word search, With no key, there are 22 words that you are charged with finding. What's going to happen is I'm going to call out the word, and each person at the table searches for the word, circles it, and shares what they found with the other people at the table. The idea is that the table is the victor, not the individual, the table. So we want to be in community. If you find other words before I call out the next one, do the same with your table mates. Give them the heads up. So in this pursuit, process matters more than results. Be community. Be helpful and be respectful. Don't start writing. OK, don't start writing. Y'all not following instructions. All right, you just launch right in, like you know exactly what's happening. All right, hold on. It's not rocket science. It's social science. And to keep it moving forward, we want to gain peace. We want to sponsor equality and justice. This is one of the big points of today. Peace, justice, and equality. We have to get good at it, and we have to get good at it all over again. OK? So the first word, struggle. Go on and find it. Find it and share it. OK? In community, find it, share it. Come on. All right, second word, peace. All right? Find it, share it. Third word, American. We are all American. All of us that are here, some of us may be visiting from a foreign land, but today in this hall, you're an American, okay? We don't play no ice up in this piece. Okay, we don't play that. All right, next word, freedom. All right, find it, share it. All right, come on, smart people in the room, good visual acuity, you can see it, you know it. Fifth word, equality, find equality. Find it, share it, okay? Six words, six words, leader, leader. Find it, share it. Next word, justice, justice. All right? Sometimes we feel like it's just us, but it's justice. Find it, share it. Eighth word, courage. All right? Courage. Hit your courage to the sticking post. Let's go. Courage. Find it, share it. All right. Ninth word. This is for anybody in the room that feels like they want to go out and slap somebody. Nonviolent. Okay? Peaceful resistance. Nonviolent. Find it and share it. All right. 10th word, activist, activist, A-C-T-I-V-I-S-T, activist. Find it, share it. 11th word, Alabama, Alabama. All right, Alabama, find it, share it. All right, come on, smart people, smart people. 12th word, movement. All right. Movement, we are going to establish a new movement toward peace, equality, and social justice. We're gonna sprinkle a little bit of equity in there. We're gonna have some diversity and some inclusion. but the word is movement. Okay, 13th word, brotherhood. Brotherhood, find it, share it. Okay. All right, 14th word, reverend, reverend. Reverend, R-E-V-E-R-E-N-D, Reverend. Like Reverend Kilpatrick. All right, okay. 15th word, respect, respect. Okay, respect, find it and share it. 16th word, leadership, leadership. You had leader already, now you have leadership. Okay, long word, should be easy to find. Okay, 17th word, protest, protest. Okay, somebody find it, share it. 18, dream. I have a dream. OK, 19th word, boycott. Boycott. All right, as in Target and Amazon. Oh, did I say that out loud? I'm sorry. Boycott. 20th word, African. African. Hallelujah. All right, we're getting down to the last 21st word, speech. Speech. Okay, final word, final answer, harmony. All right, harmony, H-A-R-M-O-N-Y. Let's have harmony. Find it, share it. Okay. On the honor system, I'm not coming to look. Has any table found all 22 words? All right. One. What table are you guys? You're Emmett. Okay. Mamie Till. All right. Very good. Okay. This is Baird Rustin. Okay. Who else? Coretta Scott, okay, and who else? Okay, that's the first four, all right. Don't confuse me. Okay, like I said, not a competition, okay? And the prize angle I'm working on, okay? I'm working on the prize angle. I haven't figured it out yet. But the idea, as you could probably see, is that we're better together. We can do more together than we can ever do by ourselves. And just by sitting at the table and talking with the folks at your table and finding words, it gives us an opportunity to see that we're not so different. We may not see things exactly the same way, but we all see the same things. Okay. All right, so thank you very much for participating. All right, we recognize that, very good. So we recognize that this is what we'd like to see across the city on a regular basis. Our hope is that all of our community-based institutions can become greater and more effective incubators for the dynamic communion and convening. That is certainly the intent of the West Medford Community Center. So as I said before, we have no shortage of friends and allies who join us on these special WMCC programs. And I'm blessed by their willingness to help, by their willingness to step up. So most of you, No or no of my buddy Max Heinegg. He is the third Poet Laureate of Medford, preceded by Vijaya Sundaram and yours truly. He is truly a Renaissance soul. Okay, besides being a published poet, multiply, I don't know if that's a word, he's been published a lot. Not only his own books, but journals, all kinds of stuff. Max is prolific. He's a high school teacher, all right, and that in and of itself probably gives him keys to heaven. He's a singer-songwriter, and if that's not enough, he's a brewer of fine spirits. If you go down Harvard Ave to Medford Brewing Company in search of a delicious IPA, Max is your man. All right? All right. So he's going to share two pieces of work with you. He's going to share a piece that is absolutely a favorite of mine. Actually, one of the first poems I heard, aside from a Phyllis Wheatley poem a long, long time ago, that hit me to the fact that black men wrote poetry. It's a Langston Hughes poem. It's called Mother to Son. So he's going to share that with us, and he's going to share a piece of his own work. So ladies and gentlemen, a nice warm round of applause for Max Heinegg.
[Heinegg]: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. Mother to Son by Langston Hughes. Well, son, I'll tell you, life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, and splinters, and boards torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor, bare. But all the time I've been climbing on, and reaching landings, and turning corners, and sometimes going in the dark where there ain't been no light. So, boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps, because you'll find it's kind of hard. And don't you fall now, for I'm still going, honey. I'm still climbing. And life for me ain't been no crystal stair. I wanted to do kind of like a low-key companion piece, just a little bit about how I've been feeling lately about my students who I think are, we're all alive at a difficult time right now, but I think the students, have a lot of challenges, maybe some unique ones, and this is just to let them know that I think we are all here for them. So that was mother to son, this is teacher to student, or in the theme of today, advice to the student who wants to quit. And there'll be two moments where it'll seem obvious that I'm gonna try to get you to say don't quit with me, and I'll probably point at you just like a teacher. Well, my student, my charge, I've seen you struggling with the world you've inherited. I've seen you trying to find your balance on this shaky ground, trying to swim, drowning in screens, trying to walk with ice on our streets, trying to assert yourself, facing the danger in being who you are, trying to be independent with the expectation of servility and conformity, the greed and damage of a system that is built to keep you powerless and disenfranchised. So it is tempting to recede in the shadows, to let others do the work, to wait for someone to stand up for you. And while you're young, you can do it a little bit. But don't quit. Say it with me now. Don't quit. As much as the only life you get to live needs you to be that bravery, we need you to be that bravery. When we see someone stand up, We stand up. When we hear someone raise their voice in the service of others, we dare to as well. The country that needs to awaken and remember its identity and its promise to be a human family needs you. Each struggle is different. Yeah, each struggle is real, but I am here for you. We are here for you. We will be your support beams. So don't quit. I've got you, and I'm sure you've got me. Trust me on this. Don't quit. Say it with me now. Don't quit. Thank you.
[Terry Carter]: Max understood the assignment clearly. All right, Max, thank you once again for your impassioned artistry. We're so happy to have you here with us today, and we appreciate your willingness to join the folks from West Medford at a time when minds and hearts really need to work together across neighborhood lines. And if I imbibed, man, I'm telling you, I'd be down at Medford Brewing Company a little bit later on today trying to get one of those IPAs. All right. You may have noticed that today's program has showcased the talents of some wonderful women. That's not an accident. Dr. King was blessed with tremendous relationships with great women who dynamically impacted his work in civil rights and social justice. I think the West Medford Community Center has been an incubator of more talented and inspiring women than I can easily recall. I always want to be mindful of such important role models and contributors. On to the next order of business. It's always a challenge to come up with meaningful messages in a keynote address and to charge to a keynote speaker. And trust me on this, because I've been on both the giving and the receiving end. Still, this for me was an easy and obvious choice. The only concern that I had was availability. And that problem worked itself out fairly easily. And relationships always help in these matters. Dr. Sarah Bleich is the inaugural vice provost for special projects at Harvard University. One of those special projects is the Harvard Legacy of Slavery Initiative. Dr. Bleich is also a professor of public health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a faculty member at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. With more than 190 peer-reviewed publications, she is a policy expert in research who specializes in diet-related diseases, food insecurity, and racial inequality. Prior to this, Dr. Bleich served in the Biden administration as the Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. and as the senior advisor for COVID-19 in the office of the secretary at USDA. As a White House fellow during the Obama administration, she worked at USDA as a senior policy advisor for food, nutrition, and consumer services, and on First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative. Dr. Bleich was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2023 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2025. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Columbia and a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Harvard. I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Blythe speak in 2025 when she was celebrating the commencement of a number of Harvard University Administrative Fellows program graduates. My wife, Teresa, was among those graduates. Needless to say, I was thrilled to be in that audience of friends, family, and supporters. But beyond this, I was excited to hear the speech of this mentor and scholar and all that she would have to say. When I heard and what I heard then brings me to this moment in time. Soon, you too will know why I was on a mission to bring Dr. Bleich here today. Without further ado, it's my pleasure to present Dr. Sarah Naomi Bleich.
[SPEAKER_00]: Good afternoon. I was saying to Robert, so I've been in and out of this area for about 20 years, and this is by far the kindest place I have been in all those 20 years, so just thank you for welcoming me. And thank you to Terry and his wife, Teresa, for inviting me to be here with you for this Martin Luther King Day celebration. I also want to thank the Tufts University Office of Government and Community Relations. It really is a pleasure to be with you all, to be in this space, and to be in community. As you heard from Terry, my name is Dr. Sarah Bleich, and I have a couple of different hats. I'm on the faculty at the School of Public Health at Harvard in the Kennedy School and still do academic research. And I also have this Administrator hat where I am a vice provost and lead our Legacy of Slavery initiative. And in our time today, I want to reflect on the words and wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, to share some of the work that we are doing at Harvard, and most importantly, to connect on the theme of this year's celebration, if we don't quit. But before I do that, I wanna begin by acknowledging several individuals whose lives, labor, and leadership anchor us today. So earlier, about an hour ago, we posthumously honored Mr. Clarence Ed Ligon for civic engagement. We also honored Miss Adele Chavezano for her commitment and impact to arts and culture. Ms. Stacey Clayton for her faith in action, and Ms. Gwendolyn Lee for her enduring legacy. Mr. Ligon, Ms. Travisano, Ms. Clayton, and Ms. Lee, we thank you all again because Medford wouldn't be what it is today without your tireless dedication and commitment to preserving the history of this city and working together to ensure that it remains strong, daring not to quit. Please join me once again in congratulating them. I would also like to reflect back and to acknowledge someone who lived and labored in this very city hundreds of years ago, not even a mile from where we're sitting right now, Miss Belinda Sutton. Miss Belinda Sutton was an African woman enslaved at the royal house in Medford. Now, me and my team went and visited the Royal House around this time last year. It was winter moving into spring, and two things stood out to me on that visit. One was when we were upstairs in the bedrooms, one of the things that Dr. Keira Singleton, who's the executive director, explained to us is that enslaved women would sleep on the feet of their enslavers to keep them warm. And it was a really cold day that day. So I'm fully dressed, my feet are kind of cold, and I'm imagining sleeping on the feet of someone else to keep their feet warm while my feet are freezing. The second thing that really stuck with me on that visit was going downstairs into the kitchen area. And there was this very fancy equivalent of a spit for making meat. And she explained that the reason that the house had made this really big investment in this spit was because the number one cause of death for women was being burned to death by their undergarments and their clothes being set on fire from the flame. But the purpose of that spit was not to protect and care for the enslaved. The purpose of that spit was to make sure that the property of the enslavers didn't die. And I just think about those moments, and it's just, it's amazing the history of this country, and bless you, and the Royal House and Slave Quarters literally is not even a mile away from here. So Ms. Sutton survived the Middle Passage, years of forced labor at the royal estate, the abandonment of her enslaver during the American Revolution. And in 1783, she did something extraordinary. She petitioned the Massachusetts legislature for a pension from the estate that had profited from her enslavement. Her petition was approved, and one payment was made. But then she had many, many efforts to request the rest of the money she was owed and was unsuccessful. But Ms. Sutton never stopped trying. This is one of the earliest documented accounts of an African woman in America plagued by slavery's chains, daring not to quit. And of course, we honor the reason that we are all here today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who held many titles for those that were close to him, a son, a husband, a father, a friend, a minister. For the rest of us, he was the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, beginning when he was just in his 20s. Dr. King followed his grandfather and his father's footsteps, became a pastor, and preached his first sermon as a teenager in Ebenezer Baptist Church, nurturing his gift of moving and inspiring millions through public speaking. Dr. King was a man who saw what the future could be if people came together and stood up for what is right, for what is just, and what is true, daring not to quit. Today's theme, If We Don't Quit, could be the subtitle of Dr. King's legacy. In a powerful speech at Spelman College in 1960, he said, and this is on the crossword search that we just did, if you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. And if you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. And move forward we must and we will. Dr. King's words are a powerful reminder of the importance of perseverance for progress. And they are not just something that makes us feel inspired today. They are a strategy for tomorrow and something that I hold as I move forward in the implementation work around Harvard's Legacy of Slavery initiative. Now, I come at the legacy of slavery work with a public health lens. For the past two decades, I have dedicated my career to building evidence for policies to help communities live longer, healthier lives through academic research and translation. I've also, as you heard from Terry, had the opportunity to serve twice in the federal government, first under the Obama administration and then in the Biden administration. But my commitment to historically underserved communities is deeply personal. So I grew up in inner city Baltimore, and I was just telling Robert before we started that walking into this room is the first time I have felt like I am in Baltimore in Boston. And that is because of the kindness of this room, and you really are to be commended for that. Now, growing up, I had my parents, and then I have a twin sister, who is my heart, and an older brother, and my parents were both public school teachers. And my mom did special ed, my dad did high school English. I can't go anywhere to this day in Baltimore with my father without someone saying, Mr. Bleich, Mr. Bleich. He knows everybody. The other thing he did is that for the last part of his teaching career, he taught English at an engineering high school, the top engineering high school in the city. So you had to get through my dad to graduate. And so there is a lot of folklore about these engineering students learning how to write well because my dad insisted on excellence in writing. Now, because my parents were public school teachers and because my mom stepped back from the workforce when we were young, my family received SNAP, which you may know as food stamps. My family received WIC. And me and my siblings, we received school meals. So I know firsthand the difference that those programs can make. So it has been a pleasure and honor of my career to be able to explore how do you strengthen the public health impacts of federal nutrition assistance programs. And because I know how powerful these programs are, personally and professionally, this current moment that we are in is especially painful. As many of you know, federal nutrition policy has undergone some of the steepest rollbacks in decades. So last year, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or HR1, was passed. It does many things, including reduces federal spending on SNAP by $186 billion. That is the steepest cut in the history of the program, and it's about 20%. That means that millions and millions of people are not going to be able to participate in that program. Now, these harms are going to be compounded by the cuts through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to Medicaid. A trillion dollars over 10 years means 10 million people are going to lose benefits. Many people who participate in Medicaid also participate in SNAP. So families are facing collateral impacts. These are likely friends, family, people that you know well, but these changes are going to affect real people in real ways. And in moments like these, it can be hard to know where to lean in. And when I feel that way, I return to my North Star, helping underserved communities achieve a better quality of life. And in this season of change, that is my way of daring not to quit. Now, my work in public health was a launchpad for doing the implementation work for Harvard Legacy of Slavery Initiative. But there's also a very personal moment that primed me for this position. So in 2017, on this day, on MLK, MLK celebration, I was at the JFK Library with my girls. They were then four and six or five and seven. And the focus of that day was the soundtrack to MLK's life. So the MC is describing one of the songs, it was a spiritual, and he mentions slavery. My then seven-year-old child, my oldest, turns to me and says, Mama, what's slavery? Now before I tell you what I said, I come from a family where manners and kindness are everything. So if you're inconsiderate, if you are mean to someone else, you will get in a world of trouble. It is a value that my parents have loudly instilled in myself and my siblings and to my children and one that I really try to reinforce. So I turn to my seven-year-old who says to me, Mama, what's slavery? And I explain it using seven-year-old terminology. She might have been six, I can't remember. And I just, I watch, literally watch the wheels turning in her head. And she looks at me and she said, Mama, that was rude. And I said, you know what, honey? It was extremely rude. And for her, that was like a four-letter word. Because again, we were told you can't be inconsiderate, you can't be rude. And so I often think about that conversation. She had such moral clarity so quickly about what slavery was. It was profoundly wrong, and it was deeply disrespectful to human dignity. So in 2022, Harvard released a report detailing the university's direct financial and intellectual ties to slavery, along with seven recommendations for how to advance reparative efforts related to that history. And the report taught us three difficult truths. The first, Harvard has direct ties to slavery. Harvard leaders, Harvard faculty, Harvard staff, enslaved people in Massachusetts and beyond. Harvard has financial ties to slavery. The university benefited from donors and investments rooted in the slave economy. And the third is that Harvard has intellectual ties to slavery. Harvard scholars helped build and legitimize the racist ideas that justified slavery and segregation. If you're interested to read the report, I've brought a bunch of copies with me that you're welcome to take, and it's also freely available online if you want to learn more. One important thing to know is that the report was voluntary. No one forced Harvard to look in the mirror, but as Dr. King taught us, the time is always right to do what is right. The university is nearly 400 years old. It was past time to be honest about its history. In response, Harvard created the Legacy of Slavery Initiative with a $100 million endowment to cast light on the university's legacies of slavery and address the enduring consequences of slavery through purposeful change. And I was asked to lead this work in 2023. At the initiative, we have three main priorities. One is memorializing those who were enslaved by Harvard affiliates while educating the community on the university's ties to slavery. Another is strengthening partnerships with historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs. And the third is identifying direct descendants of those enslaved by Harvard affiliates. To me, the work that we are doing today is a way to honor Dr. King's legacy and many other leaders like him, like many of you in this room, who have dedicated your lives to addressing legacies of slavery and their impact on communities, never giving up and daring not to quit. In 1962, Dr. King came to Harvard Law School, and he gave a talk, and it was called The Future of Integration. He told the audience that to have an integrated society, we can do one of three things. We can observe the state of our world today and live in extreme optimism, which calls us to do nothing, always thinking the best while ignoring some painful realities of what's going on around us. Or, we can observe the state of our world today and live in extreme pessimism, which calls on us to digress, see all the problems, create more problems, while solving zero problems. or we can observe the state of our world today and combine the truths of extreme optimism and extreme pessimism and be thankful for how far we have come while understanding that we have a long way to go. And here we are, 64 years later, living in a reality that reflects much of the sociopolitical environment during Dr. King's time while also demonstrating progress Yet, we have a long way to go. And we can only get there together if we dare not to quit. At Harvard, we're not quitting and remain committed to the implementation work at the Harvard Legacy of Slavery Initiative. Some of the ways we live out this commitment are providing individuals and groups with an introduction to what slavery looked like in the 17th, 18th, and 19th century New England, and how Harvard played a major role in it through our guided and self-guided tour experiences. We would love to welcome you all on a guided tour this spring. Feel free to reach out and we can set that up. Or the self-guided option is always available and you can take it at any time that's convenient for you. Many who participate in these tours are stunned that this history is in our backyard and that slavery wasn't something that only happened in the South. Another way Harvard lives out its commitment is through partnerships with HBCUs. For example, we are currently in the third year of offering a program called the Du Bois Scholars Program. It's a summer research internship for rising juniors and seniors at research-intensive HBCUs. We partner with 21 different institutions. And past participants have impacted Harvard through planting seeds that inspire further research by Harvard faculty members, And I'm proud that Harvard gets to help participants to deepen their research skills and develop a strong network of peers through their involvement with the program. This past fall, I had a focus group with a number of the faculty that participated. And one of them, who's been a faculty member for the past two summers, said that in his 26 years of being on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, being a mentor in this program is the most rewarding thing that he's done. And I think we at Harvard are so privileged to have these amazing fellows from HBCUs come with their confidence, with their brilliance, with their energy, with their excitement, and honestly make Harvard a better place. So this is a space where we're probably gaining more than we're giving. The last example I'll leave you with is that we're currently working alongside an organization called American Ancestors. They are the oldest genealogical organization in the country, and we're working with them to identify Harvard leaders, Harvard faculty and staff who enslaved people, and the descendants of those who were enslaved. Although it will take multiple years to complete, this work is vital and Harvard remains committed. And if you want to learn more about the implementation work, I've brought along some one-pagers which describe it and there are QR codes in there that you can scan to learn about things in more detail. During times when this work and the values that it represents are being questioned, Dr. King's legacy continually inspires me to keep leading my team to take concrete steps toward Harvard reckoning with the enduring consequences of slavery. The work that we do has real impact on real lives, and we can only do it in community with others. If we don't quit on amplifying history, even when that history is painful. If we don't quit on investing in our communities through civic engagement, arts and culture, faith in action, and legacy building. If we don't quit on building institutions that are accountable, not just prestigious, if we don't quit on each other across every line of difference, then the work of Ms. Belinda Sutton with her petition, the work Dr. King carried through the Civil Rights Movement, and the work that all of you are doing here in Medford will continue to move us towards a more just society. And even when it feels like we're swimming upstream, which is how this moment feels to me, we will make progress and eventually draw closer to the promised land. We cannot quit. Let me close with a simple invitation. Dare not to quit on yourself, on what you built, on what your community built, or on one another. We need each other to build a brighter future in which generations can thrive and in turn help light the way for those who follow. Thank you for having me in your space.
[Terry Carter]: So I'm smiling from ear to ear, because as you probably do, I love it when a plan comes together. What I heard then. is equivalent in so many ways to what I heard today. Sarah, that was absolutely amazing. And you crystallized everything that we wanted to bring to our audience today. And I want you all to give yourselves a round of applause, because you've been a great audience in braving the elements to join us today. So as we move closer to the close of our program, I would be remiss in this gathering, and I don't think it would be complete if we didn't link arms and sing together. Martin Luther King was a great lover of the gospel, but also of gospel music. And here to present us in another of Dr. King's favorite spirituals, We Shall Overcome, is once again the wonderful Athene Wilson.
[2dmRw3Tp0tA_SPEAKER_04]: All right, so if we can stand and make this declaration with music as we sing We Shall Overcome. We shall overcome. We shall overcome. We shall overcome. Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe. We shall overcome someday. If we take it further, we shall live in peace. We shall live in peace. We shall live in peace. Someday, oh, deep in my heart, I do believe we shall live in peace one day. One more time, one more thing. We are not afraid. We're not afraid. We are not afraid. You believe it, right? We are not afraid. We are not afraid today. Today. Oh, so deep in my heart, I do believe we will overcome, that we shall overcome someday. Yes. Thank you. Give yourselves a big hand, big hand. We shall overcome today.
[Terry Carter]: Glory to God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Athene, so much. OK, like I said, friends and allies. And from one important tradition to the next, I would like to bring another friend front and center. Jill Harvey is the chief equity officer of the Mass Municipal Association and previously served as the inaugural director of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Division of Health and Human Services for the town of Arlington. prior to obtaining a master's in public affairs from Brown, her bachelor's in anthropology in 2013. OK. And she obtained her bachelor's in anthropology in 2013. It was during her undergraduate career that she stepped into the leadership role, leading the Black Student Union, and became a lifelong advocate for community, equity, and inclusiveness. Jill has been a member of the Mystic Valley branch NAACP since 2020 and became its president in 2022. I have great admiration for this woman. She is both persistent and determined to make a difference. And we've asked her to deliver our charge as we leave this gathering to continue on in this kindred journey to active commitment in Medford and beyond. Jill Harvey.
[w2qazGPKqcY_SPEAKER_03]: Hello? Hello? OK. All right. Thank you, Terry. The charge for this day. So I believe you all came here today because you care about the things that Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cared about throughout his historic and courageous life. You care about people, your family, your friends, your neighbors, even those who you do not know personally. You believe that each and every person has rights that should not be infringed upon. equal protection under the law, voting rights, equity and access in housing, employment, education, and health care. These are all the things that you care about and believe in. Hopefully throughout our time together, you were able to soak in and absorb the messages of our speakers, that you engaged in fruitful conversations with your neighbors and table mates, and that you were present for the last few hours, taking a pause and respite from the encompassing chaos that somehow has become our new normal. I've been asked to reshape the positive and communal energy of our time together into a charge for moving forward as one, as one beloved community. I'm honored and humbled to do so, but I am resolute about making the best of the few moments I have to share something of value as we leave today's proceedings. There are three key principles I believe Dr. King would have wanted us to focus on at this difficult, challenging, and what feels like backwards-moving time. First, I believe that Dr. King would have beseeched us to look inward, to engage in self-awareness and acknowledge the role each and every one of us hold in perpetuating injustice. We each play a part in upholding oppressive systems and understanding where we are situated is key. Second, I think that Dr. King would have reminded us that the challenges and setbacks to progress are part of the normal process of development and not to be discouraged or hopeless. He told us that the line of progress is never straight for a period of movement may follow a straight line and then it encounters obstacles and the path bends. This means that we cannot lose faith when we face setbacks in seeking peace and equity for all. And lastly, Dr. King would have wanted us to recognize that the path forward is choosing community. In his final book before his assassination, Where Do We Go From Here? Choosing Community Over Chaos, it is evident that choosing community and love for one another is the only way forward. So your charge beyond this afternoon, when you leave here today, is threefold. First, start to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Leaning into self-reflection and intentionally seeking to learn about yourself and others, being culture, religion, anyone who's different from us. It can be difficult and it can be uncomfortable, but you need to lean into that. Real engagement and relationship building humanizes people, and it helps us to see that individuals have much more in common despite noted differences. I encourage each of you to make an effort to talk to your neighbors. Get to know people who live near you if you don't know them already. Strike up a conversation with a stranger, in a coffee shop, at the grocery store, at a park, or just while you're waiting by the bus, because you know the buses be late. But human-to-human interaction goes a long way, and it often has a trickle-down effect. You don't know how a simple hello or a smile can positively impact someone's day. Let go of despair and allow your faith to lead you. King said, a final victory is an accumulation of many short-term encounters. And right now, we are in the midst of a counter-revolution to the progress we've made in this country in advancing human and civil rights. And we are moving through that cyclical process of progress. It's much easier to give in and buckle under the pressure, but I implore you to dig deep and tap into your faith and encourage others to do so as well. Whatever notion of the divine might be for you as an individual and for your neighbors, tap into it and keep it at the forefront of all that you do. And finally, choose community over chaos. Do what is necessary to ensure that every individual, despite their race, sex, gender identity, religion, socioeconomic status, any differing characteristic, that every single individual has what they need to thrive. That is at the core of what equity is. actively choose to prioritize equity, which requires a commitment to understanding that the structures and systems we currently have perpetuate disparities in every facet of life and that they must change. And accepting that change will be hard, it's okay to make that choice. In all that you do, consider how it will impact not just you, but others, your family, your friends, your neighbors, and those you do not know and might not ever meet. As we depart here today, let's be mindful of our duty to live out the promise of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.' 's sacred trust and his willing sacrifice. Gathering together our individual pieces of his dream can lead to something truly special, or as Dr. King so eloquently stated, not everybody can be famous, but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service. Thank you all for being here today, and I hope that you leave here reinvigorated, determined to serve, and remembering not to quit.
[Terry Carter]: Wow, wow. Well, Medford, that's a good day's work. We've discussed, we've dined, we've danced, we've sang, we've listened, and we've learned. I believe it's exactly what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted in us as we are together today. I pray that there's no COVID, no conflict, and no lack of commitment in the room, even as we're leaving. So as things wrap up, I'm going to cede the floor to Lisa M. Crossman, the executive director of the West Medford Community Center, to acknowledge and thank some folks. Please show your love for Lisa. All right.
[Crossman]: Thank you, thank you. So I won't keep you long. I just want to say a few things. As we come to a close, I want to pause and say thank you because today did not happen by accident. It happened because people showed up. with care, commitment, and love for this community. This year's theme, If We Don't Quit, reminds us that progress is sustained by perseverance, that the work of justice and love continues when we choose to stay engaged, even when the road is hard. Today is a testament to that spirit. First, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Terry Carter. That's right. Give it up, give it up, give it up. whose vision and leadership and countless hours made today's celebration possible. Terry, thank you for carrying forward this event with such heart and excellence. Thank you to our guest speaker, Dr. Sarah Naomi, for sharing your wisdom, insight, and inspiration with us today. I also want to, oh, go ahead, y'all give it up. She deserves that. I also want to recognize their incredible event setup and support team of Stacey, Charmaine, Pam, Melinda, and Ketley. Yes. They ensured everything came together beautifully with very little time this morning. Your work behind the scenes makes moments like this shine. To our board of directors, Reverend Kilpatrick, Teta DeRosa, Melinda Regan, Michael Bergman, Stephen McCullough, Mario Reed, Jarrett Lovett, Phil Davis, and Brian Collins, thank you for your steady support, leadership, and belief in the mission of the West Medford Community Center. Yes. Full board. We're deeply grateful to the Tufts University Office of Government and Community Relations for the room and their support in getting everything together, Rocco DiRico for driving that effort forward, the Mystic Valley branch of the NAACP, and to everyone in this room who donated. Your financial support makes it possible for this celebration to remain free and accessible to everyone, and for that, we thank you. I'll close with words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who reminded us why gatherings like this matter. The end is the creation of the beloved community. May we leave here today carrying forward that vision in our words, our actions, our care for one another. Thank you and travel safely home.
[Terry Carter]: Thank you. All right. Again, profound appreciation to Tufts' own Leah Bedro and the excellent assistance of IT guru Guillermo. He's back in the corner there. And as Dr. Sarah said, everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need to have a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love. As we leave this place, let's allow our hearts to be full of grace and our souls generated by love. Thank you and God bless you. All right. Yeah. The other thing is we don't have enough for everybody, but it is online. But if you'd like a copy of the book about Harvard's initiative on slavery, you can come up and see us at the table over here. I also have books of poetry if anybody's interested. And they're over here, Separation of Church and State.