ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Antonia DeLeon, Ariyani Duverge, Brenda Mejia, and Dalyanna Assade of the Cultura Latina Dance Academy prepare to perform at the 31st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast.
By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — The 31st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast brought together several community groups and performers who used different outlets to express the same message: one in honor of a man who was a leader and activist in the civil rights movement.
The breakfast was hosted by the Community Minority Cultural Center, a Lynn-based organization that promotes multiculturalism.
Children form the Cultura Latina Dance Academy, under the direction of Executive Director Yaya Rodriguez, performed Latin-American styles of dance.
Fourth-graders from The Groove School, an after-school program offered by Building Bridges Through Music, recited the organization’s pledge, focused on having respect for themselves and others. They followed the pledge by expressing themselves through drumming. Building Bridges is a nonprofit, multicultural expressive arts organization. Its mission is to bring together diverse neighboring communities to increase cultural awareness and racial harmony by using music, said Director Doreen Murray.
Murray grabbed the attention of each attendee with her spirited performance of “I Go To The Rock” by Whitney Houston.
“We all need to take a stand to be kind, courteous and courageous in this world we live in,” Murray said. “We have to have something stronger than us to believe in, to execute our faith in.”
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Keynote speaker Louis Elisa, the former president of the Boston Branch of the NAACP, reminded the audience that the luxuries they take for granted every day came at a price.
“We have grown in many ways in the right direction,” Elisa said. “I love my country, but I can remember a time when I felt like my country didn’t love me.”
Many called King a dreamer, but he was a fighter during a time of controversy, Elisa said.
With Republican Donald Trump set to be sworn in as president Friday, Elisa said the country has elected a “madman trying to turn the clock back to the dark ages of civil decline.”
“(King) took the challenge of making his community and our country a better place,” he said. “I can only feel contempt for what we, as a nation, have allowed (our country) to become.”
Friday the 13th has been known as a day to fear, said Maru Colbert, a motivational speaker.
“For many of us, Friday the 13th has a new name: Friday the 20th,” Colbert said.
Elisa cited the numerous acts of violence, racism and killing of young black men in Chicago.
“Shame on America and what we say we stand for when silence prevails,” he said. “If this was a virus or the plague or the opioid epidemic, I know there would have been a solution implemented long before now.”
But Elisa added he has hope that the nation can learn to respect that the country will always be made up of people who are different than one another. Turning to and not on each other will make America great again, he said.
Representatives of Lynn United for Change also honored King’s legacy by pledging to carry on the fight against racism and for social and economic justice.
The group gathered outside Lynn City Hall Monday afternoon to read from speeches and connect the words and example of King to ongoing social justice struggles, including the group’s local work for access to housing for all.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.
