South Orange-Maplewood Celebrate MLK Day With Messages of Love—And Defiance

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“You can still unleash through your love, a force greater than yourself, a force to rock the foundations of the world,” said Dr. Saladin Ambar at the annual MLK Day observance hosted by the Coalition on Race. “That’s what happens when we unleash the power of unbridled love. Stand tall. Your country needs you. “

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In welcoming the community to the 24th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Observance, South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race Trustee Barbara Velazquez noted the “ironic coincidence” that the event was taking place on the same day as the second inauguration of President Donald J. Trump.

“It might not be such a bad thing,” said Velazquez, “because communities all across the nation are celebrating the values and the accomplishments of Dr. King and the love that he had for a beloved community all across the nation. Dr. King’s vision of hope, equality, justice, and love. And these energies could counter other negative energy.”

Velasquez continued, “We are fighting for justice, we are supporting justice, we’re supporting DEI [Diversity Equity Inclusion], we’re supporting anti-racism, we’re supporting immigrants and so forth.”

Local leaders and Coalition staff and trustees.

MLK Observance Planning Chair and former Coalition on Race Trustee Mark Mucci sounded a defiant note in his remarks by reading this quote from King during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, “If peace means accepting second class citizenship, I don’t want it. If peace means keeping my mouth shut in the midst of injustice and evil, I don’t want it. If peace means being complacently adjusted to a deadening status quo. I don’t want peace. If peace means a willingness to be exploited, economically dominated, politically humiliated and segregated, I don’t want peace. So in a passive, nonviolent manner, we must revolt against this peace.”

In her opening benediction, Rabbi Alexandra Klein from Temple Sharey Tefilo Israel in South Orange called the day “a moment of contradiction.”

“For today, we celebrate the legacy of a man who taught us to build a just and beloved community on a day when we inaugurate a man who seems to believe only in himself, who holds nothing sacred,” said Klein. “But we are here to proclaim that a change in power does not mean that our values have changed, or that who we are has changed. And so in this moment, when xenophobia tries to take center stage, give us the strength to say no, we will love the stranger in our midst. In a moment when difference is used to divide us, give us the courage to say, no, our diversity is a precious gift. In a moment when extreme wealth is wedded to power, give us the fortitude to say, no, we will stand up and defend the democratic power of the people.”

Coalition Executive Director Nancy Gagnier told the assemblage “to take heart.”

“We walk through the world believing that tomorrow is a better day, and we work to make it so doing all the things that might get us there, the hard things, the anti-racism training, challenging systemic racism, and getting people to understand their own racism.” Gagnier said that work could be accomplished by building community, and pointed to the many activities and events sponsored by the coalition.

The mayors of both Maplewood and South Orange focused on community in their comments as well.

Maplewood Mayor Nancy Adams said, “We’re lucky that we live in such a progressive and caring community here in Maplewood and South Orange, but let’s be real as we look ahead. There’s a lot to be concerned about with the new administration coming in a couple of hours ago. Some of the progress we’ve worked so hard for, feels like it’s on shaky ground. That’s why we have to stay strong. Dr. King showed us what’s possible when people come together with courage and with love. Let’s keep standing up for what’s right, looking out for each other, and making sure our community stays a model of inclusion, fairness, and hope. To quote Dr. King: ‘Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.’ ”

South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum said, “In these times of division, in times when equality feels like an uphill battle, we must hold fast to the power of community. Community is where change begins. Community is where courage is born. Community is where we find our strength to rise above the rhetoric that seek to divide, and policies that aim to oppress.

“But I’ve seen the struggles in our own community as well,” said Collum. “So of all of Dr. King’s incredible quotes today, I choose the following: ‘People fail to get along because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other. They don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.’ This year, let’s be the ones who choose to communicate, not through shouting or typing, but by listening, learning, and coming together. Let’s resist the urge to win arguments and aim to win understanding. Let’s trade likes and shares for handshakes and heart to heart conversations. In doing so, we not only honor each other’s dignity, but also strengthen the fabric of our community, of our family.”

CHS Special Dance Company

The event included performances from the CHS Select Chorus and Special Dance Company, and keynote addresses by Dr. Saladin Ambar of the Eagleton Center at Rutgers University and Maplewood resident and New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi, speaking on “upholding Dr. King’s legacy in challenging times.”

Ambar noted that many Americans from all walks of life felt disillusioned. “Fewer and fewer of those in power control more and more wealth resources and media in our country. More and more Americans are disenchanted with our entire system.” Ambar asked, “Where do we go from here? As Dr. King once asked, we must learn to object when an objection is needed. We must learn to resist when resistance is called for. And certainly above all, we must learn to love where love is most needed.” Ultimately, he turned to the CHS students who had gathered to read a Declaration of Inter-Dependence: “You can still unleash through your love, a force greater than yourself, a force to rock the foundations of the world. That’s what happens when we unleash the power of unbridled love. Stand tall. Your country needs you. ”

Zoboi spoke of her Haitian roots and her compulsion in the aftermath of Trump’s re-election to speak to the “longstanding pejorative representation in the media” of Haiti.

Mia White and Ibi Zoboi

“Whenever I’m invited to speak about my birth country, what I’ve been able to fully articulate is that everything that is wrong about Haiti is also everything wrong about how America treats it and views it and people like them all across the globe,” said Zoboi.

“These myths rob an entire people of our humanity as we fight for our own survival and seek out the American dream, even as we navigate the innumerable and pervasive American nightmares. … And in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King and how he spoke and worked for the least among us, this is what I’m doing as I stand here. The least among us are the people who are displaced. The people looking for survival wherever they can find it. The poet Warsan Shire says, ‘No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.’ And this is what I want to leave you with, that displaced people are looking for home. By virtue of being born, by virtue of being living and breathing human beings, they deserve a right to have a home and be home. And this is what Dr. Martin Luther King’s work means for me.”

 

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