Category Archives: MLK Day

Celebrate MLK Day!

civil rights, Inclusive Communities, MLK Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday commemorating the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and serves as a reminder of his significant contributions to the Civil Rights movement and his lasting impact on the social landscape of our country today.

In communities throughout Vermont, folks come together to reflect and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s commitment to justice. More than just a day off from work, this holiday is a time to invest in our neighborhoods and to consider how we can continue to fulfill his mission of a more equitable country.

Here are some events you can plug into.

  • Sunday, January 15, 2023, 3:00pm: Join the Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center this Sunday for the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Remembrance. Dr. Deborah Archer, president of the ACLU, professor of clinical law and director of the Civil Rights Clinic at New York University School of Law, and co-faculty director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU Law, will be the key note speaker. You can find more information about the event here https://gbmrc.org/mlk2023/

  • Monday, January 16 | 10 am – 5 pm: The ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain invites the community to join for their 11th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. Through musical performances, the City of Hope: Resurrection City and the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign temporary exhibit, and visual art and spoken word activities curated by The Clemmons Family Farm’s network of Vermont African-American/African Diaspora Artists, guests will explore this year’s theme, We Are the Dream: Affirming the Legacy of Martin Luther King through A Day of Art and Celebration. Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in walk-up craft activities curated by ECHO and a civil rights panel curated by the Greater Burlington Multicultural Center. https://www.echovermont.org/events-programs/mlk-day/

  • Thursday, January 26, 2023 | 4:00-5:30 PM At the University of Vermont, the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion invites you to join the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Keynote with Carolyn Finney, Ph.D. Carolyn is a story teller, author and a cultural geographer who is deeply interested in issues related to identity, differences, creativity and resilience. Lecture will be followed by Q&A and a book signing. This year’s celebration will also include musical guests Dwight + Nicole. Reserve your tickets here https://www.uvm.edu/diversity/signature-events/mlk

  • The Vermont Law School is celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 from 12:45 p.m. to 2 p.m., and invites community members to join a panel discussion. Panelists will speak on “What Does an Equitable Legal System Look Like in Vermont?” In particular, the panelists will reflect on the recent statistical findings that stated in 2019, “black people were over three times more likely to be defendants in a misdemeanor case and almost six times more likely to be defendants in a felony case compared to white people.” More information can be found here https://www.vermontlaw.edu/2023-Dr-Martin-Luther-King-Day-Celebration

  • Monday January 16, 2023 9:00am – 8:00pm: Saint Michael’s College will host a full day of programming to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., including exploring children’s literature that celebrates Black joy. a conversation about how Dr. King’s Legacy contributes to the creation of a beloved community, a student panel discussion, and more. Check out the full list of events here https://www.smcvt.edu/event/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-day-of-celebration/

Martin Luther King Day may be relegated to one day each year,  but it is important to remember that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy lives on – his advocacy and preaching never looses relevance in our day-to-day activities.

At CVOEO’s Fair Housing Project, we are keenly reminded on this day of MLK’s enduring impact on housing equality. His assassination served as the final push to pass the Fair Housing Act of April 1968. On MLK Day, we invite you to look at our regional, state, and federal housing policies with scrutiny, and ask what more can we do to further housing equality. It is never too early to start preparing for Fair Housing Month! Please be in touch to learn how you can be a leader in Fair Housing activities this spring.

The Enduring Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Burlington, Chittenden County, Chittenden County VT, civil rights, housing inequality, MLK Day, ,

While Martin Luther King Day is relegated to one day each year, it is important to remember that the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s lives on, his advocacy and preaching never loosing relevance in our day-to-day. Throughout our Vermont communities, folks came together to reflect and celebrate the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s commitment to justice.

The Fair Housing Project’s partner, the Old North End Arts Center, celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy with their Better World Camp. The ONE Art Center invited kids to explore kindness through art projects, focusing on fun and the different ways the children can express themselves. They spent MLK Day by making art projects in a variety of media, practicing drama, storytelling, dancing, playing organized games, asking kids to think about What is service to others?

Photos by Brian Letizia, courtesy of Old North End Arts
Photos by Brian Letizia, courtesy of Old North End Arts
Photos by Brian Letizia, courtesy of Old North End Arts

The pandemic has put unprecedented stress on our communities, our families, our coworkers, our neighbors. But as we move into the safety of the zoom cyber space, collaboration has become second nature. Organizations have the flexibility to not only cohost conversation across sectors, but even for connections to be built across state lines. The City of Burlington hosted this thought-provoking panel on Reparations and Reconciliation, inviting not just local city officials and scholars, but representatives from other cities experiencing their own Reparations and Reconciliation discussions and legislative actions.

 

The Providence family of Guilford includes, from left, Justin, Rohan, Sherry, “Prov” and Aaron. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger

Following the themes advocates and leaders raised in this conversation, in this VT Digger article, Rohan and his brothers, Aaron and Justin Providence, share a vulnerable conversation about their experiences growing up Black in Vermont with a level of candidness new even to their own family.

“You have to take a step back and just listen,” Rohan tells VT Digger, echoing a sentiment not only shared in the city hosted panel on Reparation and Reconciliation, but an echo of Black voices since the beginning of the racial justice movement. With vulnerable honesty, this family shares their story to illustrate what must be done all across Vermont: frank conversations about race and racism in our communities.

That “raw truth” is core to this powerful commentary from Kesha Ram (D-Chittenden), Vermont’s first woman of color to serve in the state Senate. State Senator Ram points to the glaring racial disparities in COVID-19 rates, policing, and homeownership as the true causes of Vermont’s prevalent & persistent whiteness. Ram corrects the popular and comfortable opinion that Vermont’s lack of racial diversity can be solved merely through more rigorous recruitment, adding critical insight to an urgent equity issue in our state.

You can find the rest of Burlington’s recorded MLK Day events, including a story walk organized by Fletcher Free Library that you can still participate in on your own, here.