Brookline Interactive Group

Pursuing Social Justice in 2021, Presented by the Brookline MLK Celebration Committee

Three ways to watch

the Live Premiere at 1pm on 1/18/21:

 

Please join together for Brookline’s celebration of the life and values of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at 1 pm Monday, January 18, 2021. This year, our event will be virtual and you can access the Premiere below or on BIG’s Community Cable Channel Brookline Comcast/RCN Channel 3.

Program Rundown:

 
 

MLK Day is not only a recognition of Martin Luther King’s martyrdom in the struggle for racial equity but it is a reminder of how far we still have to go to achieve equality. This year’s program includes several different groups, each discussing issues of race and social justice from different perspectives. The quality of these sessions and their potential for enriching future Town discussions and understanding of these issues has led the Committee to extend the length of the program. 

If you want to see parts of the program more than once or share some elements with family and friends, you can directly access each segment here after the live premiere concludes:

“Pursuing Social Justice”

 

This year’s program will feature a Moderated Conversation on “Philosophical Mentoring and the Impact of Words on a Generation”. The conversation is hosted by Nick Bates, the Assistant Director for Thurman Center Networks in the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground. His work focuses on educating the community about Howard Thurman and overseeing strategic partnerships that build on Thurman’s philosophy of Common Ground. The panelists for this conversation are Rev. Andrew E. Kimble and Jessica Hamilton.  

Rev.  Andrew E. Kimble is from Los Angeles, CA, and currently resides in Roxbury, MA. He graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy from Morehouse College in 2014. For the next two years, he worked for a top national law firm as a conflicts analyst. In 2019, he graduated with a Master of Divinity from the Boston University School of Theology. Alongside his ministerial responsibilities at the historic Charles Street AME Church, Andrew is the assistant director of alumni and donor relations at the Boston University School of Theology. In his free time, Andrew enjoys listening to jazz, talking with friends and strangers, running outdoors, and visiting the used book section in local bookstores.

Jessica Hamilton is a third-year Master of Divinity Student on the Global and Community Engagement track at Boston University School of Theology. Her studies are focused on the intersection of public policy, ethics, and spirituality and she is interested in understanding what bearing this intersection has on emerging conversations of social equity. In addition to her studies, Jessica serves as a Graduate Assistant at BU’s Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground and was a 2019 recipient of the Rappaport Institute’s Public Policy Fellowship. Prior to seminary, Jessica spent ten years working in health care policy. She is a graduate of Northeastern University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in political science. 

The program also features Brookline High School students and local college students discussing Social Justice and how the events of this past year have impacted them. This group conversation is hosted by Harvey Bravman, Filmmaker and creator of BrooklineHub.com and the Brookline Youth Awards.

Also featured will be music and inspirational words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

This event is free. For more information or for any questions, please contact Caitlin Starr at cstarr@brooklinema.gov.  

Inspo:Expo presents Engage! A Morning of Making a Difference with two hours of Zoom activism on MLK Day (1.18.21):

 

10-11am: Virtual Crafting Circle. Bring your welcome blankets, mask-making, or other projects and meet neighboring craftivists to learn how you can use art for social change.

11-12pm: Explore Brookline’s new Community Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. The Town has a new plan for Community Engagement, which includes a Community Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. Inspo:Expo and the Commission on Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations invite you to come share your input and feedback on issues you find important in the community, and brainstorm with Town and community members on how to make the new Community Engagement plan a success!

To join the Zoom on the 18th, click: https://tinyurl.com/inspoexpo

Drop in for a few minutes or stay the whole time! For more information, email: inspoexpo.brookline@gmail.com.

OR

CLICK ON THIS LINK, to see a list of Inspo:Expo partners who have remote (or low social contact) volunteer opportunities. If you scroll through and see something you’re interested in, simply email the organization directly through their listed contact info.

Lastly – test your knowledge of Martin Luther King, Jr. with this month’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations Quiz! Take the quiz here: https://www.brooklinema.gov/1514/Community-Quiz

Lift Every Voice and Sing

Song by J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson

Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the list’ning skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea
Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has tought us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast’ning rod,
Felt in the day that hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet, come to the place on witch our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our star is cast. 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
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee,
Least our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee,
Shadowed beneath the hand,
May we forever stand,
Tru to our God,
Tru to our native land