good morning and welcome to the dr martin luther king community breakfast happy to have you and we're happy to celebrate the life and legacy of dr martin luther martin luther king today he was a nobel laureate the taught us that the most powerful r to battering buttons barking dogs and barrages of water in the pursuit of civil rights was to strike back against the conscience and heart of the nation on the surface dr king's cause was civil rights dive deeper into that in one begins to understand that this income encompassed unconditional quality in schooling public accommodation housing voters rights and all that comprises the pursuit faction of organizers who believed peaceful protest could never materialize the monumental change that the movement saw dr king approach this division diplomatically he strives to bring the inclusive world he dreamed and spoke about interview ality into reality by doing something the movement had never done in our nation had never seen internally before today we celebrate his work doing so we will be hearing from today's keynote said speaker representative byron rushing on how to perpetuate dr king's legacy in perpetuity later we will hear from the group black in belmont belmont against racism to include the fabric of our community in today's quilt of discussion however at the moment i kindly ask that you join me in honoring our nation as the belmont high school chamber singers perform our national interest at them under the leadership of director sean landers we are grateful to gather here today and remember the life of and legacy of dr martin luther king we are able to do so with the help of both the belmont public school superintendent's office and the front office of the belmont high school under principal daniel richards he's been gracious enough to host us and is only fitting that as our  good morning on behalf of the administration faculty and students of the belmont public schools i'd like to welcome you to the special event this is my twelve year i've been associated with the belmont martin luther king and i'm always encouraged and energized by the turn of so many community members thank you for your dedication and commitment to dr king's vision and to the students of the belmont public schools thank you i am honored that belmont high schools able to host this event which raises funds for the arts a school transportation in tutoring for students who participate in the medical program the after school transportation program allows students to participate in sports in extracurricular activities with the assurance that they will have a seat trip back home at the end of the school day because of your commitment to argue they are afforded a rich high experience that they will always remember your commitment is shaping individuals by building their confidence fostering positive relationships and developing leadership skills necessary for our students to be successful well beyond their time here at belmont high school your commitment is a direct reflection of dr king's message of equality unity and respect because dr king was not able to fulfill his i have a dream speech it is a great responsibility and importance that each of us look inward and live that dream for him if dr king were here today i am confident that he would share his wisdom and remind us to stay the course don't get discouraged and lead by example each year your presence in commitment at the belmont m l k brecht is is a representation of his wisdom and courage dr king spoke together as a community we have and always will remain together to stay the course and lead as a community thank you for your dedication and supporting the students of the belmont public schools at this time i would like to introduce doug john former bishop from the church of latter church of jesus christ of latter day saints please come to the p please join me in prayer dear god we're thankful to be gathered as friends and neighbors to commemorate commemorate the life of martin luther king and reflect on the principles he taught and the work still to be done to bring just justice and equality into this world we're grateful for those who have organized this event and for those who will participate in the program please bless them that they may express themselves in words or music to the best of their ability open our minds that we will understand and our hearts that we can commit ourselves more fully to living up to the ideals of dr king taught bless those presently experiencing injustice prejudice distress our physical suffering and give us courage and strength to bring positive change to ease their plight help us as a community to do our part bless the leaders of our nation that they may seek more civility and cooperation to relieve suffering and injustice we're thankful for the progress that has been made but pray for guidance and strength to push dr king's dream closer to reality and we ask for that spirit in blessing upon this meeting in the name of our lord amen today we have with us representative dave rogers represent average represents the twenty fourth middlesex district which is all about money in parts of arlington cambridge he serves on both the joint and ho committees on ways and means the house committee on redistricting and house personnel and administration committee among others he worked on last year's criminal justice reform bill which makes it illegal for pregnant women and juveniles to be put in solitary confinement repeals onerous mandatory minimums and reforms fines and fees levied by the courts of the commonwealth because by actual hardship among other things additionally he expanded on the affordable care act here in the commonwealth through co sponsoring the advancing contraception coverage an economic security bill economic security in our state though i am grateful for the help that he extended to us and to have him here with us today i welcome represented representative rogers to the podium to deliver his remarks morning everybody and another packed event and this this event is is just fantastic i want to thank belmont against racism the human rights commission the religious council and so many other organizations that make this event a success and and not just this event but all through the year the work they do helps make belmont a wonderful community and today maybe more than ever is a chance now to continue to reflect on the legacy of dr king and i don't think i even need to say why it's particularly of the moment and for me today it's a particular joy to get a chance to introduce our keynote speaker my colleague and friend majority whip and one of the greatest leaders in our state government representative byron rushing and the lucky thing for me is why you might call him representative i get to call him byron and byron has a long history of community organizing and fighting for civil rights and equal opportunity in the one nine hundred sixty s he was active core the congress for racial equality leader rushing was subsequently the president of the museum of african american history under his music leadership the museum purchased and preserve the african meetinghouse which is the oldest black church building still in existence in the country he also led the effort to establish the boston african american national historic site which is part of the national park service so the list could go on and on and on it elected to the house in one thousand nine hundred two byron has continued to work to fight for disenfranchised populations he was the original sponsor of the marriage equality bill he's been a leader on trying to end homelessness he now co chairs the health disparities council in our state and he does not rest on his laurels that is for sure every week we meet in his office and talk about criminal justice reform environmental protection on and on and on byron continues to fight every day to make the world a better place and and he's a cool guy he's a great guy kind gracious funny smart he's the kind of person we'd all like to work with a wonderful colleague and i can tell you he gets invited to events on a day like this all over the state and keep in mind he has his own district where he gets invited to tons of events so for him to come here is really a special thing please welcome representative byron rushing  good morning and thank you very much for that kind of welcome thank you very much dave for those kinds of remarks in your introduction it is always n up so early in the morning so that i would be nice to them the next time i see them rights commission i think thought i was not responding quick enough to his invitation to be with you this morning that he said david on me and it all got settled right away also always good to be with my other colleagues from these parts of your senator will bounce burger but it is  especially is specially fun for me to be again with your former state representative and my former seat mate representative and  today this year we again commemorate martin luther king j and when we commemorate martin luther king jr we're commemorating more than just one great man when we commemorate martin luther king jr we commemorate not one man but a whole race of people a community of men and women of african descent which was and is his heritage from which he was derived when we commemorate martin luther king we commemorate not only one man but a whole movement the african american civil rights movement a movement not led by one man alone but also by women and men like i did b wells w b the boys william fannie lou hamer and thousands of others women and men and even girls and boys who struggled with their eyes on the pr when we commemorate martin luther the command king we commemorate all who have struggled with justice and freedom and peace in the  violence and our land and throughout the world today this morning we gathered to commemorate martin luther king and to honor who all who by faith are true to what they know is intr are to be faithful then to this commemoration faithful to all the work and sacrifice of so many to bring us here faithful to the controversies along the path to here we miss come to ask this question can we in this commemoration of all of these movements for justice can we commemorate ourselves can we commemorate ourselves in this legacy of so many where do we fit in the legacy of martin luther king us answer these questions we have his word that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal we have the classic white male radical statesman of the american revolution to help us answer these questions we have his word that the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood to answer these questions then we have the history of our nation we have the history of our nation defined  one of the profound incredible horrible institutions without which it would not be here we have the understanding we have the memory of slavery that one day he said every valley shall be exalted every hill and mountain shall be made low the rough place is ma plain and the cook at places will be made straight and the glory of the lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together but those of you who don't read that book very often here of course was quoting i there from the old testament of the hebrew scriptures and we have we have an understanding of this world that is philosophical and theological and we have these words that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of this skin but by the content of their can we find ourselves in all of those places brilliant and profound however it should not be used to freeze him in that particular time that particular hour washing d d c and talked to the nation about many things toward the end of the afternoon i tried to talk to the nation about a dream that i had and i must confess to you today that not too long asked to talking about that dream i started seeing it turn into a nightmare i remember the first dream turned into a night just a few weeks after i had talked about it it was when four beautiful offending innocent negro girls were murdered in a church building in birmingham alabama blown up i watched that dream turn into a nightmare as i moved through the ghettos of the nation and saw my black brothers and sisters perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity i saw that dream turned into a nightmare as i watched the war in vietnam escalating yes i am personally the victim of deferred dreams of blasted hopes but in spite of that i closed the day by saying i still have a dream because you know you can't give up in life so this morning let us reflect and the questions like can we commemorate ourselves can we commemorate selves in this legacy of so many where do we fit in the legacy of martin luther king that everybody has noticed the title so you all ready for this question everyone here who is under fifty years old raise your higher and although we know the answer now by default for the next question let's have everyone who is over fifty raise your and you know of course why i'm doing that martin luther king was born january fifteenth one nine hundred twenty nine martin luther king was assassinated april nine hundred sixty eight april fourth one nine hundred sixty eight martin luther king was thirty nine years old this april four will be the fiftieth anniversary of that assassination of martin luther king were alive he would be eighty nine years old this is eighty so those of you who only know about martin luther king because you have read about him hopefully all voluntarily or seen clips of him that have been preserved from television and film and of course her over and over so many times him say those words from nine hundred sixty three in washington how does that make sense what does it mean to you and those of us who had the experience for some of us a privilege to be around when he was alive what did we learn then that we tend to communicate now what did we learn then that we can say to others who are younger but i also say to ours me remind all of us that most people did not like him most people in the united states saw that part of what he said made sense sometimes but most of what he said now that made sense or seemed relevant at all the people who after hundred sixty eight who said they supported martin luther king had supported martin luther king we would be a lot further in this country than we are now alas the way martin those became is like the underground railroad after the civil war everybody had a station in their basement so let me just insert here for a moment a brief curriculum for those of you who are reading continue to read but read those books that describe the society that existed then as well as martin and his work and so bite the bullet and start reading branch taylor's three volumes be sure to read david garrow so you will get a sense of the incredible organize official tax supported attempts to discredit martin luther king at every turn led by the f b i and be sure to read about him from the point of view of other revolutionaries and people of color and read michael eric dyson try to end this year reading something by martin luther king other than the speech at the march on washington so that's my insertion of a curriculum for use for the rest of the year who led the f b i intelligence operations wrote a memo to his boss j those of you who like trivia williams sullivan actually came from massachusetts he was born and he wrote personally i believe in the light of king's powerful demagogic speech yesterday he stands head and shoulders over all of the negro leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of negroes we must mark him now if we have not done so before as the most dangerous negro of the future in this nation from the standpoint of communism the negro and national security a subsequent memo sullivan but right to hoover it should be clear to all of us that king must at some propitious small point in the future be revealed to the people of this country and to his negro follows as being what he actually is a fraud demagogue and scoundrel when the true facts concerning his activities are presented such should be enough if handled properly to take him off as pedestal and reduce him completely in influence the most dangerous what was so dangerous about martin luther king he would describe himself like this i'd like for somebody to say that day when he died i would like somebody to say that my luther king jr tried to love somebody i want you to say that day that i tried to be right on the war question i want you to be able to say that that i did try to feed the hungry i want you to be able to say that day that i did try in my life to close those who were naked i want you to say on that day that i did try in my life to visit those who are in prison i want you to say that i tried to love and serve humanity he believes in jobs and decent salaries alliances with the trade union movement he died of course supporting the garbage workers strike in memphis he believed in coalitions with all progressive poor and working class people in ending poverty he believed in nonviolence in his nobel prize acceptance speech he said i believe that truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality this is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil  he believed in ending the war he believed in ending war for him it was opposition to the war in vietnam in one nine hundred sixty seven at the riverside church in new york city he said we still have a choice today nonviolent coexistence or violence coal annihilation we must move past in decision to action we must find new ways to  speak and justice throughout the developing world a world that borders on our doors if we do not act we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and  time reserved for those possessed power without compassion might without morality strength without si for these words he was criticized by his friends and enemies the new york times editorial board which loved him dearly until that day wrote in recent speeches and statements the reverend dr martin luther king jr has linked this personal opposition to the war in vietnam but the cause of negro equality in the united states the war he all jews should be stopped not only because it is a future our war war waged for the wrong end but also because it is the barrier to social progress in this country and therefore prevents negroes from achieving their just place in american society this than he suggests the political strategy for one thing the peace movement and the civil rights movement could very well be disastrous for both courses the end up  and i am sure as i probably think you are that if he had lived longer the words afghanistan and iraq and so called war on terror would have been included in that so what was dangerous about this and he believed in jobs and decent salaries for everyone he worked for that he believed that poverty could be ended everywhere he worked but that he believed in coalitions with all progressive poor and working class people for months before he was assassinated martin luther king announced the poor people's campaign a middle ground the riots on one hand he said and timid supplications with justice on the other he plans an initial group of two thousand people to descend on washington d c to meet with government officials and demand jobs after his assassination the southern christian leadership council decided to go on a campaign under the leadership of ralph ab demonstrators and the following day resurrection city a temporary settlement of ten thousand shacks was built on the mall in washington remember the title of the one nine hundred sixty three march was march on washington for jobs and freedom the nine hundred sixty eight slogan was we the poor people of america demand decent jobs and income the right to a decent life midway through that campaign robert kennedy whose wife had attended the mother's day opening resurrection city robert kennedy was assassinated out of respect for the campaign his funeral procession passed to resurrection resurrection city close june twenty fourth of that year after its permit was with the park service was not renew to be part of his legacy we cannot tolerate anyone in this city or state or nation being home to be part of his legacy we cannot tolerate anyone being deprived of health care we cannot tolerate a criminal justice system that does not expend more of its resources on rehabilitated re entry than it does under of incarceration and punishment to be part of this legacy we must understand all human being so what do we do next what is remarkable about the movement that martin luther king led and the movement that he influenced was that their goal and its incredible positive way was destruction it was destruction of every institution that was inhumane it was the destruction of every part of our culture and society that does not raise up and support and proclaim every human being therefore it called for the destruction of rac understand racism as a part of our culture a part of our culture that is so ingrained that we take it for granted and most times unless it is said in incredibly outlandish and bigoted ways not noticed it is institut understand that our understand our call for peace must call at the same time for the destruction of militarism as a d if we are going to find ourselves in this commemoration may i suggest that we join in this movement to destroy the destructive that we join in this movement to resurrect that constructive to find our way to find our way not only in understanding and believing but leading the movement to a society start eating with our own and with our neighbor that respects every human being sold that leaves us it seems with this response the dangers that us leave this place being dangerous negroes all of us let us leave this place figuring out all the dangerous things that must be done and of course we will be courageous and of course it will be controversial but as martin luther king's thing is of course we thank you so much representative rushing for those words happy to say that we've got about ten minutes or so for some questions and answers so i'm going to raise your hand i'll come over and you can ask him your question like to before doing so i'd like to say that in my experience i've learned that it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil so thank you for giving me what i requested from your office i wasn't trying to be an annoyance though i know i know i can be out so thank you but i see a question here and if you wouldn't mind just stating your name and standing and asking your question my name is lisa tripp and i'm seventy five years old so i was there during the civil rights movement what i wanted to point out is so few people ascribe to tin his incredible deep patriotism i don't think he ever looked at other countries he is as american as you can be and i hope that people will realize his patriotism was an enormous l question richard rowe can you give us an example of one dangerous thing that we in belmont should now be taking i would say that one dangerous thing that belmont and other towns your or your town or city or town good for you i was so upset about they is how segregated you are and you are not segregated because belmonte segregated you are segregated because we live in a segregated state in a segregated country racially segregated country we live in one of the most this country is is more residentially more segregated now than it is ever been in history our schools are more residential segregation and we cannot do that without dealing with the issue of money and class we have everyone here has to agree if they live with people who are poor than they are on the same block everybody and if you're not willing to do that dangerous thing you will always be busing those nice people  i was with barney frank the other night bonnie has gotten more outrageous about this position than i have i am but he was amazed uses my district as an example of what he can understand about wealthy white people living their poor people a voice says go to southend well i just go to the south end and it is sort of remarkable and barney is right so in my district i represent of course the oldest oldest gentrified neighborhood in boston it is also probably the only jentzsch gentrified neighborhood in the united states that has the most affordable housing in my district where we would not where people were active enough that we destroyed no public housing when gentrification came in and went on you now can live one block away from public housing in a four million dollar house now isn't that interesting now of course the person who decided to buy that house and take out buy all the condos that were in that house and turn it back into a one family house and get it completely remodel and that total cross of four million dollars that person felt entitled felt that they could choose because of their money to live anywhere they wanted to and it was ok to live where they chose to live but my guess is that wherever that person lived ten years ago if someone had suggested they would build the public housing in that town taking action however i see that as an action i think that's just i think something out there you're done for the day could you please talk about the danger of inaction not doing something or doing something that's not sufficient  i think the answer to that question is clearly following the whole range of tactics that were used in the civil rights rights movement and bringing those tactics to our twenty first century technology you can be very sure you can be very sure that martin luther king was certainly have had his staff writing his tweets but they would have been coming out on a regular basis you can be very sure that the southern christian leadership council and of course corps and the n w city and in those days would all have had facebook pages and web site all of those things but they understood those things just like they understood i assume understand those things just like they understood picketing and civil disobedience it was toward a goal and what i ask everyone whatever age is is to remember that importance of coming together deciding on the goal and working toward that goal using every every means that is creative and possible see what time for i think we have to start with figuring out how we change the funding scheme for how we do that and finally and since the all of these things of course i'm not mentioning raising taxes because all of this stuff is talking about raising taxes you know what they're not going to spend any money on this none of it's going to happen and then fine and then finally let us deal with the problem of housing for people who have no homes it is just there is it is just there is no reason affordable housing is a huge problem but there is no reason buy this very small piece of affordable housing cannot be solved soon and that is everyone should be able to have a place to live in well how about another warm hand for byron rush just quickly i happen to notice some of our elected officials here district attorney belmont's own marion ryan is here and selectman adam dash is here and i don't know if i missed anyone else if so stand up and say hello oh of course well i thought he was already introduced senator well brownsburg of course glad i didn't miss that one so new i don't have her name down yet patrice garvin we're going to shift our scope now to focus locally to local groups to help us do that the first of which is black and belmont i'd like to invite lindsey reiner podium to introduce black in belmont hello everyone i am so happy to be here today to introduce three members of a very important student group that has just begun in the past year here at belmont high school black in belmont the group began last february when a group of educators teachers and administrators here at the high school invited a group of students to come speak with them about what it was like to be black  belmont the educators were curious and committed but and i can hold myself cheap chief among them in this regard ignorant about what it was really like to be black in belmont the students the students were brave they were courageous they were dangerous they will continue to be so they have sensed that conversation which then evolved into a weekly conversation and finally into the group that we call black in belmont now with its own formal advisor mr keene barge who unfortunately could not be here today that group has given four presentations over the past eleven months to faculty and staff the earlier this week gave a community presentation with dorothy stoneman who is here today and the beyond ferguson group and three members are here with us to speak to you now so i am very pleased to ask barbara joseph crystal and zachary steward to come to the podium good morning for those who don't know me my name is barbara joseph and i'm a current senior here and i would just like to introduce you to people behind me they will be reading their statements that was sent to  as an african american male i have to live in a world that is not built by me or for me i need to fight for everything i have and sometimes it's still not enough when i moved here at the beginning of freshman year i was apprehensive because i had never been around so many white people however i have been accepted by students teachers and administrators alike and i greatly appreciated belmont has its issues but there are people who are doing everything in their power to enact change here it won't happen overnight but my hope for the future is that there will be a time that everyone will really be equal not equal in air quotes and that skin color want to terming your status and also just like to say thank you to mr richards and mr ender and all of the teachers in advisors who helped us form black and belmont and who have given us the time the space that we need in order to come together and be ourselves and not be judged by either by teachers or fellow students and to just had that space where we can truly bear selves and i'd like to think mr rushing for taking the time to come out today and and also led to think dr king because it worked for him and it for or for men like him and women and children i would not be standing up here today talking to you or i would probably be at home most likely  going to in all black schools so where else that is not here and i think dr king for his sacrifice and for allowing me to stand here in front of you today thank you good morning everybody my name is crystal i'm a little bit nervous but it's ok i think that one of the most difficult things about being a minority in a majority caucasian school is that no matter how hard you try you'll often be seen as that black kid to some black people you'll never be black unless you conform to their interests i personally found this difficult because i'm not interested in rap dancing or any other stereotypical interest that people of color may have therefore my persona is what most people would characterize as cool unquote way yet my complection says otherwise although none of my white friends outwardly expressed the differences we share i feel the difference in our lunchrooms groups of a particular race will sit somewhere while the other sit somewhere else although some do intermingle and sit together i wish that we would have various friendly groups despite our differences i wish that people would realize are more alike than we seem and to quote martin luther king we must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as for thank  you thank you guys for listening to i stand before you today to not only express my every day experience here in beaumont but to help dismantle the preconceived notion associated with people of color my morning star start off with like every other typical mormon girl i wake up around five thirty five forty five and i get up and head to seminary for those who don't know seven areas it's like church school before school but what most you may not knows that at home i am just a kid when i step out of those doors i'm a black kid for the most part ignorance is in the is in correspondence to the lack of knowledge and some may argue from a generation that ignorance is the result of what we read in our textbooks watch on t v impose we see on social platforms in the words of james baldwin if you know whence you came there absolutely no limitation to where you can go in order to take a step forward you must take a few steps back into it in look into the past unfortunately as a black child i have been bombarded with tales of lynchings then bill the inability to sit in front of a bus to talk about inequality in the misrepresentation of those who resemble me in the mass media and i'm tired in order to make change we must not only acknowledge martin in his doings for our nation but dorothy height bayard rustin john lewis gloria richardson and so on and so forth it is our duty to provoke empowerment for the children of color into both empathy and the desire to assist amongst our nation for it is easier to build strong children than to appear broken men thank you thank you to all three of you you guys did great by the fact you were nervous honestly couldn't tell and i think that everyone here i speak for everyone here and we say we immensely value your contribution today and it's great to see high school students pick up a cause so young so i just could only like to offer it to my thought that i hope you stick with it you know pick a cause and run with it it's most important to stay devoted to something rather than just pick something up so stay after it and you're going to only surprise yourself with how successful you're going to do with advocating for something so important going like to work something different into the program this year and that is the opportunity for every one of the tables to discuss with one another and meet someone maybe you haven't met before and even take this time to maybe throw up on coffee or grab a glass of water before i leave you would like to leave you with a point of discussion that you might be able to take up if you so feel and that is to discuss a memory that you have of the occurrence of a significant event that altered the landscape of civil rights in america and lessons from it couple to today's current atmosphere this could be something from the sixty's but this could be something more recent if you're close to my so please ten minutes and we'll pick up after we've got still have a lot of work to do apparently the original folks and i think mike collins and friedman are here against the original goal was to end racism by the year two thousand here in balad but we still have some we still have a lot of work ahead of us i wonder  thank the chamber's singers for lifting their beautiful voices i want to give a particular shout out to the human rights commission belmont against racism used to run this event we've turned it over to have a boy what a fabulous job particularly tony morrow s representative rushing wisdom and long social justice advocacy as well as our passionate young people who give us just enormous hope for the future thank you well give a few showed out because there are people who are working who are actively commemorating i don't know if senator brownsburg are still here but both our state representatives rushing massachusetts will be a model for the country on criminal justice reform when it comes through so that's a great  i also want to thank the school department because they are currently working involved in addressing inequities that exist in education so for all the staff and teachers who are working on that and they actually work with the black and belmont students as well thank you for that work we really appreciate it and i want to give a shout out to were shouts one to the boston belmont friends group this is a group that puts together some families from met cohen arbeloa families and in doing so they gain friendships and understanding and it's a fabulous organization and we talked about housing and i want to give one that i shout out there is among us where is and a couple and a covina goldberg and connie williams stand up for a second and there might be a few more these were the original fair housing people at preston williams preston play stand up for and miller who couldn't be here today way before belmont against racism exists ahead post and i'm sorry and how could i forget there existed a fair housing group which brings us back to many of the things that represent rushing was speaking about this morning so we're fortunate here this is the part of the fund raising part of the of the program we're fortunate to have met co here because it allows that exchange from the urban suburban experience and we all gain from that and for many of us we've made true long term friendships through the mco program and so while still school is about academics it's really after school that we make our connections and i don't know if many of you know about our medco students but they wake up around five o'clock in the morning take often two trains and a bus to get to school and to get home at night and they still have homework to do so i'm always just amazed at what they do to get a good education and to join us here in belmont so one of the things that we know is that after school activities are aware where we make our connections and it's where you learn sort of the true meaning of teamwork if you're participating in a play around a chorus if you are on a team and these are invaluable experiences are m and so what i want to do is to say that after for those students who participate in after school activities from mco they often have to take the train home in the cold in the dark and this is where the matco support fun comes in and principal richards mentioned this earlier the mecca support promises stablish by belmont against racism and it's administered by the school department it used primarily for transportation it provides taxis from afterschool directly to the students home so it's safe and reliable service for the students so they can participate fully in our school programs and so our students  have have the opportunity to make connections on all sides the breakfast here today is the primary fundraiser for the for the just school phoned the fund is also used for other programs across all of the schools that bring our students together so we have it made it really really easy for you to participate this morning there are several ways in which you can help one is that there is at the back of the room steve friedman and john roll got them there be happy to take your credit card and you can go back there with your credit card reader if you have a check on your table you will see a manila  you may write the check out to barges simply be a art right medco on the byline and slip it in the on the low now if you forgot your checkbook and you want to do alone at home take home your program the address is on there p o box six four nine belmont massachusetts and you can do that however because we're modern you can also pick up your smartphone dial n w w w belmont against racism oh r g scroll down to the yellow button says donate and there you go you can donate online so again three ways to to participate here this morning john and steve in the back of the former board member john roberts tells us so all that will be in the on the low we are going to hear i guess a little of mavis staples well why you folks do that and then members from bar will come around and  collect and for those of you who want to continue with commemorate dr king i and courage you should join belmont against racism or attend the human rights commission meetings and we can all go forward from here thank you so much  we're going to move towards wrapping things up here today so when mine have a seat and we will be finishing up shortly and i know that there's been some questions it's been raised for people's information bars a five a one c three organization so please make note of that thank you katherine and belmont against racism although the human rights commission is event it couldn't happen without bar and that's the truth they are very helpful in getting this done questions my first time doing it so that i leaned on them and they were very supportive and helpful so thank you to belmont against racism and catherine moving towards the close of things just put a few things on your radar belmont against racism the human rights commission belmont books the belmont public library and friends of belmont public library are hosting a night with gish jen the author of the girl at the baggage claim explaining the east west culture gap and we invite all of you to attend it is free it's taking place at the belmont public library's assembly room on tuesday february sixth seven pm and again that's at the library's assembly room and there are little tiny placards at your tables if you'd like to take one with you please feel free to do so next i invite john horgan from the new roads catholic community program to speak a little bit about a refugee program going on here in belmo pilot site for a new program under the catholic charities resettlement agency called the power program p or w r stands for people our parishes organize to welcome refugees and we've got a we have already reached help to resettle two refugee families the first family in february came from the congo tria don't siblings and they had been in a refugee camp for fifteen years when they arrived we found that they had relatives in worcester so they got free settled there so our goal was to resettle a family in belmont and we were kind of given the impression this wasn't definitely an impossible dream but we were able to do that with the help and collaboration of the other religious faith communities and belmont one of our local parishioners dropped the rent in the apartment so they could afford it so we received and welcomed a family of four from iran who are now re when we adopt a family through this power program we are responsible for fainting and furnishing an apartment and providing everything the family needs until they are self supporting so in the arctic to continue  will have the belmont festival arcus thread the powers music school and other individual performers we are also making is an educational live and we'll have representatives from a family from syria iran and haiti and talk between the performances about the experience of coming to america so i want to invite you to attend and help support the power program and one of the things it impressed me most is the kindness and generosity of the people of belmont and the collaboration with all the other religious communities and i'm very proud to be a resident of belmont and we were this year during the summer designated as a welcoming community and we hope to continue that tradition of collaboration so we hope to see you at the concert and come and enjoy and learn and meet our new neighbors thank you thank you so much now they like to invite former selectman bill scully to speak about the program inner city this young man over here i went over and talked to him for a while and i said it's very interesting what he's gone through and i said in a strange way i went through a similar thing and reverse  what it meant was my lovely wife convinced me to go work at a place called polaroid way back then and to go work at the inner city business in downtown boston and it was wonderful we had thirty five staff people working with us and one hundred fifty young people ninety five percent were black and helped them find a job and get a korea did that for two months they sent me someplace else and they called me back and the top boss what i'll talk about in a minute  in newton said bill we're going to put you in charge as the first time white guys going to be running the program and i was very very blessed because i don't want to create people working with me and after the set i was there for five years after the second year we became the best in america helping people get jobs and helping them with their careers it was a great experience and it's funny about five months four five months ago i started talking to three of my old friends in that process jim wells who's with me and that's me many years ago and a woman in boston and a woman down in florida because she's been ill and the four of us going to start a program because we're not very happy what's happening and what we did many years ago we believe that we can get this done from a different perspective and we're not reaching out to people in greater boston you know we'll do some work oh we're going to get people to come in and work with us and get this going again and it was a great experience for me one of the best things for me was again i was probably thirty five that long ti and young young boy came in twenty four years old black boy and he wanted to become a fireman of which my father was and he said no it won't work we won't get it done they don't do things to help us and i worked very close with them and it was just a great experience for me because about nine months later became a fireman and boston and we have thank god a four of us working together we want to get going with very upset about this what's happening with the guns in our area and you can see that happen all the time and we're going to get going on this and anyone who has any ideas or any interest working with us please let us know i am talking to groups in boston now and we're trying to get them to do what we did forty years ago it's been a long time so any of you that have some ideas like we're going to keep talking i'd appreciate it and give me some ideas and also i have plenty of these because i'm giving these out to different people in downtown boston a ball what we did many years ago and what we know we can do again again after our second well with my team we became the best in america and it was so great to watch on average one hundred fifty young people ninety five percent black in boston getting a job in a career that in most cases they never found so we want to replicate it and keep it going if you have any questions after i step down be happy to talk with them all right because this is something that's going to benefit all of us and i'm  fortunate to have three of my old timers working with me and with talking to businesses in boston now question i'll give it yeah i'll come over my skills are very limited i've been around for a long time yeah i want time i started here in belmont when i was five from cambridge and  it's a great community and so forth and i'm looking forward to talking more so yeah any other questions before i step down ok i don't see any thank you very much the inner city that was built we are going to close with a prayer from reverend gary richards from the belmont watertown united methodist church before we reach that point i'd just like to say thank you to sorry excuse me because after this is all i'd just like to thank everybody the belmont school's department superintendent's office the custodial staff here the belmont media center to get racism against racism this is all put on it takes a village it's not one group not one person so i know that i'm not mentioning everybody and i apologize not comprehensive but thank you to those groups and many more for your help i'm going to leave you with two thoughts two quotes that stuck out to me when i was preparing for today the first quote i was reminded of recently and that was i alone cannot change the world but i can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples that was the late mother teresa and of course dr martin luther king taught us that the time is always right to do what is right and courage evelyn to do what is right cast a stone and see the ripples go and i also like to mention the children are back so if you have a child they went to child care please go get them before you leave reverend gary richards please to invite you to stand if you're comfortable doing so my prayer will combine some thoughts and words from the honorable representative byron rusting who calls us to be dangerous people and what i may say are some dangerous times and so i ask you to be in the spirit of prayer with god of many names in all places you know the stormy road that we  we pray that you will accompany us on the way on the path that you call us to travel help us all god to join in the efforts to destroy that which is destructive help us so god to resurrect that which is can and as a community and as individuals or god help us to respect all to see in one another and in our neighbors you can finally help us to be dangerous and to dare to be bold to fight for a just criminal justice system for fire and equitable education and for housing particularly for those that are without a home and on the streets on this call in for a new vision of an inclusive affordable housing strategy in possibility here in our community guide our path as we lead this place and until we meet people coming out today if there are any volunteers that have some time in their schedule this morning to help us clean up and put things back to order would be greatly appreciated thank you to everyone again for coming out and getting this organized for today thank