In Dottie Morris’ mind, community is not a noun: it’s a verb. Morris, the associate vice president for institutional diversity and equity at Keene State College spoke about community and togetherness during the Jaffrey Civic Center’s “Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.” event at the United Church of Jaffrey on Monday.
“I think part of what Dr. King is really invoking us to do is to think about community as a verb, that we will take action because we care about one another,” Morris said to the crowd of over 100 people at the annual event, which takes place every year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “We are going to smile at each other, we are going to make sure nobody in our community goes hungry.”
The theme of this year’s event was “we are all one humanity,” something Dr. King often reflected in his own speeches and actions.
“He had a sense of clarity about how we, all of us humans, regardless of our geographic location, we are all connected, we are one,” the keynote speaker said.
Morris referenced one of Dr. King’s speeches to start her speech, one where Dr. King talks about preparing for work in the morning.
In making your morning coffee or tea, in taking a shower, and eating breakfast, you are already indirectly being influenced and benefitted by people from around the world, King said.
“We must blast past our illusion of separateness. We must realize that we are related, we are all cousins,” Morris said. “Regardless of the color of your skin, the texture of your hair, the language you speak or you don’t speak, the way that your eyes are shaped, the way that you pronounce your words, the way that you move through the world – we are all cousins.”
Before concluding her speech, Morris tasked the audience with a bit of homework: for each person to think of five things they could do to show of the understanding and connection of others to help create a beloved community.
“It really starts to get exciting, when you think of something you can do every day for the rest of your life to contribute to the beloved community… I’m telling you it might become a trend, it could go viral,” Morris said. “This is one thing we would want to go viral. I would encourage you in any way possible to think about the interrelatedness that Dr. King talked about as a foundational piece to creating that beloved community.”
In the spirit of the beloved community and being one humanity, two refugees who came to New Hampshire also shared their stories on Monday.
The 2019 MLK Student Art contest winners were also announced, with seventh-grader Isabella Hart taking first place and seventh grader Hayden Rowland receiving second place.
The event also featured an invocation from the United Church’s pastor Rev. Mark Koyama, songs from the Jaffrey Grade School and Rindge Memorial School choruses and the Conant Chamber Singers, and the reading of one of Dr. King’s speeches by Alyssia Maki and Arianna Wentworth of Project Shakespeare.
To close the event, battery-powered candles were handed out while the crowd joined together to sing “Give Light,” by Terry Leonino and Greg Artzner, a song based on the writing of Civil Rights Movement leader Ella Baker.
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com.