34th Annual MLK Day Celebration

We are happy to announce the 34th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration in Northampton on Monday, January 15 by The Resistance Center for Peace and Justice!

The schedule for the day is:

10AM : Afro-American Heritage Walking Tour with Steve Strimer of the David Ruggles Center. This tour will begin at the Sojourner Truth Memorial Statue in Florence, at the intersection of Park and Pine Streets.

1pm: Celebration Assembly: Our main convocation, bringing everyone together for music (featuring Prone to Mischief and Pamela Means), the unveiling of the work of The Resistance Center, including our recent trip to the Nobel Peace Prize Conference in Oslo, Norway, and a keynote by of Chair of the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

2-5pm: Community Organization-led Workshops: At several locations in downtown Northampton, individuals and leaders of community organizations will be hosting a number of workshops, ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Some of the organizations hosting workshops on MLK Day (you do NOT have to register to attend, just show up!) include:

How to Get Rid of Nuclear Weapons | 2pm – 4:30pm
Edwards Church – Addis Hall (297 Main Street)
Presenters: Vicki Elson and Timmon Wallis
This year, a Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons was passed at the United Nations. We have a lot of work to do in the United States to make this a reality – Learn how you can help get rid of nuclear weapons before they get rid of us! We can do it!

Common Threads: Social Justice Song Swap | 2pm – 3:30pm
Edwards Church – The Edwards Room
Presenter: Sarah Pirtle, Director of Traprock Center’s Common Threads project
All styles of music and spoken word about social change are welcome as all ages come together for multi-generational singing and sharing about solidarity. We’ll give a chance for participants to suggest a song, lead a song, or be there to listen and sing-along. Sarah will also tell the story of Claudette Colvin, who at age 16 in Montgomery refused to move to the back of the bus six months before Rosa Parks and helped launch the bus boycott.

The Women’s March Year One: Hear Our Voices, Hear Our Vote | 3:30pm – 4pm
Edwards Church – The Edwards Room
Presenters: Rachel Maiore and Lindsay Sabadosa, Pioneer Valley Women’s March
Come learn about the upcoming Women’s March, what’s planned, and how you can be involved!

The DREAM Act and DACA Youth | 4pm – 4:30pm
Edwards Church – The Edwards Room
Presenter: Eduardo Samaniego, Youth Organizer, Pioneer Valley Worker Center (PVWC)
Learn about the DREAM Act and how you can be part of the urgent movement to ensure permanent protection for DACA students and immigrant youth consider this country their only home. (If you can’t come to the workshop, join the PVWC in New Hampshire Tuesday: http://bit.ly/pvwc2nh )

Getting Military Recruiters Out of Our High Schools | 4:30pm – 5pm
Edwards Church – The Edwards Room
Presenter: Jeff Napolitano, The Resistance Center for Peace and Justice
Since 2001, military recruiters have had increased access to children in high schools, and are regularly given their personal information in order to solicit them. Learn how it’s going on, learn how well (or badly) your high school is doing, and learn how to stop it.

The Climate Justice Movement: Solidarity, Mobilization & Resistance in High Stakes Times | 2pm – 3:30pm
First Churches – Lyman Hall
Presenters: Irvine Sobelman and Susan Theberge, Climate Action Now
The climate justice movement is rapidly growing as more and more people realize that sustained mass action is our greatest source of power. We invite everyone who wants to help to build a vibrant, unstoppable climate justice movement to join us for this interactive workshop. Climate Action Now is a dynamic, grass roots organization. We work closely with Springfield Climate Justice Coalition, Sugar Shack Alliance, Mothers Out Front and Mass Power Forward along with many other groups. Feel the warmth of community and the power of collective action as we move forward together at this critical moment in history.

Back from the Brink: A Call to Prevent Nuclear War | 3:30pm – 5pm
First Churches – Lyman Hall
Presenter: Dr. Ira Helfand, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Many local and national organizations have endorsed the “Back from the Brink” resolution. Are you associated with a group that might support this? Come learn about this campaign, and how to introduce this resolution at your church, synagogue, civic group, medical association, university, or municipality.

Poor People’s Campaign Workshop | 2 – 2:30pm
Unitarian Society Basement
Presenter: Rev. Kelly Gallagher, United Church of Christ
Tens of thousands of people are uniting in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. But to succeed, we need people like you to be on board. Come to this brief workshop to find out how you can be involved here in Western Massachusetts. (Knitters welcome to this workshop!)

Women’s March Knit-In | 2pm – 5pm
Unitarian Society Basement
Convener: Lindsay Sabadosa, Pioneer Valley Women’s March
Come join us before the 2018 Women’s March in Northampton for a community knit-in! Bring a project, finish up a hat and knit in the company of your fellow marchers. Stop in to join us for all or part of the time! No knitting lessons provided but lots of tips and secrets will be shared. Political discussions optional but always encouraged.

Peaceful Dialogue in Unpeaceful Times | 2pm – 3:30pm
Northampton Friends Meeting
Presenter: Mary McCarthy, Traprock Center for Peace and Justice
How can we effectively talk to one another when the divide seems too deep and tempers are flaring? In this workshop, we will share personal experiences, role-play different scenarios, and provide some techniques to help navigate difficult conversations.

Moving to build The Beloved Community | 3:30pm – 5pm
Northampton Friends Meeting
Presenter: Maya Apfelbaum, Director, Artist and Educator
How can we move ourselves, our community and the world towards less violence and war and more justice and love, 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr. sought to build “the Beloved Community?” Let’s explore!
We’ll check in, do a short writing exercise to prime our creative juices and center our focus and then use embodied movement work to investigate and express how we think of and feel war and peace; injustice and justice. We will see how we might transform violence, brutality and domination to kindness, care and connection. We will share our movement, findings, questions and inspirations at a closing circle.

 

Please contact us with any questions or comments – (413) 584-8975