Tribute to a King
City of Woonsocket pays respects to Martin Luther King— and his dream
WOONSOCKET – Amid multicolored silhouettes rising from ground freshly coated with snow, local and state community leaders on Monday morning continued their Martin Luther King Jr. Day tradition of honoring the civil rights leader’s legacy – and calling for action.
They gathered at the MLK Memorial Sculpture Garden, a collection of two-dimensional steel-plated figures depicting King preaching to his followers. The memorial has been standing since 2012 at the traffic island where South Main and Mason streets meet.
“Nobody does Martin Luther King weekend like Woonsocket does,” Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner said to a crowd of 40 or 50 standing in sub-30-degree weather. He joked, “You are the only community
that feels the need to do an event outdoors, but aside from that, you do a fantastic job.”
Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt said Woonsocket is a “special community” and that some other Rhode Island communities don’t hold any commemoration for the holiday.
She reflected on her high school years and how she and her classmates “got along like family back then,” issuing a call for unity.
“I just think it’s so shameful that the society in some communities reflects on people differently,” BaldelliHunt said. “We are all one, and that’s what we believe in this community.”
The event was organized by the MLK Community Committee and sponsored by a consortium including the nonprofit NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley, Citizens Bank, St. James Baptist Church, Woonsocket Police and the City of Woonsocket.
U.S. Rep. David Cicilline said that while Dr. King is often quoted and praised for his eloquence, “the transformative power of Dr. King was the actions he took and the work that he did.”
He called for hard work to reform the criminal justice system, restore the Voting Rights Act and create equal opportunities for education, concluding with, “Happy Martin Luther King Day; let’s get to work.”
City Council President Al Brien agreed, “We need to convert the words to action, and I think this community standing here today demonstrates that it’s willing and looking forward to doing that.”
After Brien’s remarks, Margaux Morisseau, director of community engagement for NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley and an MLK Community Committee member, laid a wreath on the sign for the memorial. She creates the wreath every year, and this one will stay up until Martin Luther King, Jr. Day next year.
The event at the memorial concluded with Bishop Herson Gonzalez of Calvary Worship Center singing a soulful rendition of “None of Us Are Free” while attendees stood in a circle around him, hands held and heads bowed.
Tom Gray, vice chair of the committee and a deacon at St. James, spoke to The Call after the event about this year’s theme: civic engagement and voting issues.
He said the committee’s goal is to increase voter registration, as well as increased public awareness about voter ID laws and related issues. The committee will put together a “get out the vote” task force in advance of the 2016 elections, Gray said.
Other event attendees included former Mayor Leo Fontaine, Acting Chief of Police Michael Lemoine, City Councilor Garrett Mancieri and State Rep. Michael Morin.
Woonsocket’s 15th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Weekend Celebration began Thursday night with a civic engagement summit at Woonsocket High School. The evening, attended by Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea and Treasurer Magaziner, included a keynote address from New York State Assemblyman Michael Blake.
Blake also spoke Friday night at the Rev. James Wesley Hinson Scholarship Banquet, held at Savini’s Restaurant. Rev. Hinson was the founding pastor of St. James. This is the fifth year in which a $1,000 scholarship is given to a Woonsocket or Greater Woonsocket high school graduate, Gray said.
St. James held its annual MLK interfaith worship service Sunday night, and community members gathered there again Monday after the speaking program for coffee, donuts and muffins.
Martin Luther King Jr., who gave his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, was assassinated in 1968, when he was 39 years old. He would’ve turned 87 last week. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first observed in 1986 and was recognized in all 50 states by 2000.
State Rep. Stephen Casey, whose district spans southwestern Woonsocket, said that while society has come a long way since King’s time, more work remains.
“This is not a once a year thing where we all come out and celebrate; you gotta do something every day,” he said. “It’s up to all of us together to keep continuing to mentor, to educate about the legacy.”