World of Wellesley Virtual MLK Day Program Jan. 18, 2021

WOW's Annual, Virtual MLK Day Program January 18, 2021

According to Co-President Christina Horner, this year’s program is different from what’s been done previously but is particularly relevant, “first of all, it was organized by a multi-racial and multi-general group. The group is steadfast in its belief that the day should be a call to action. Over the years, the World of Wellesley has been steadily moving beyond its core values of tolerance and diversity. Instead, we are a group of volunteers who are striving to be anti-racist as well. We can't achieve this without continuous self-reflection and being intentional about learning representative history and we invite the community to learn with us. For some reason, many of us have forgotten or may have never known that the fight for civil rights didn't begin and end with Dr. King. Additionally, we don't want the day to go by without making it known that Dr. King fought against poverty, as well as racism and war. We should too”.

The programing for this year’s event began (December 2020) with a 30-day countdown towards MLK Day, Good Trouble: More Than Just a Day- A Call To Action which, upon registration, delivers facts about Dr. King, the civil rights movement, and some of his most inspirational quotes daily, right to your email-inbox. It’s ongoing and there’s still time to register until January 17th; however, that’s just the teaser. The main program is a line-up of the following choice morsels to choose from: The MLK Virtual ‘Breakfast’ 2021 is a multi-generational and multi-racial community discussion. You are invited to engage, in groups, for brave conversations about Dr. King’s speech, ‘The Other America’, and its relevance to the challenges we all continue to face today, The Good Trouble Short Story Book Group (Grades 8-12) will be facilitated by Wellesley Public School Students and focus on a short piece from chapter thirteen of Sterling Hayden’s ‘Wanderer’. You may search for a PDF online or access the reading in the document provided on WOW’s website (https://worldofwellesley.org/events/our-events/), The Good Trouble Workshop is a virtual interactive art workshop for students in Grades K-7. Student art will be displayed at the Wellesley Public Library (details to follow) and lastly, The MLK Day Family Storytime is a virtual event is designed for children and families of all ages to listen together to the book, ‘Vitamin D and Me’ by Michelle Chalmers, an amazing story of how and why human beings have different color skin tones. This engagement is designed to encourage open conversations and questions which the non-profit hopes will be a community “take-away” concept.

When asked, what were Horner’s hopes for this year’s program impact, she said, “our hope for the day is that those who participate will engage in the conversations that so many community members have said they wanted. We want folks to move beyond the ‘feel good’ breakfast and make Good Trouble so that we can make Wellesley and our country a better place. The recent insurrection at our nation’s capital proves that we need this more now than ever before”. A national memorial to Dr. King was built near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., where Dr. King delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. The memorial invites visitors to reflect on King’s life and legacy, as does the World of Wellesley, with a view towards positive change for all.