good morning axel a great my name is dan richards on the principle of belmont high school is a pleasure to be here this morning to celebrate dr martin luther king jr day on behalf of the administration faculty and students of belmont high school i like to welcome you to this special event as i look around i'm always encouraged in an energized by the turn of so many members of our community it is your dedication to this special event that helped shape the lives of our most precious asset and that's our students today our nation will mark the thirtieth observance of dr martin luther king jr's birthday as a national holiday the day stands as a monument to the accomplishment of dr king and all those who dedicated their lives to ensure that our country was up to the true meaning of its creed that all men and women are created equal the work of the men and women of the civil rights movement undoubtably made our country a better place their sacrifices made america place where no one can be treated as a second class citizen under the law and every child can grow up knowing that one day he or she can become president the importance of what dr king accomplishes nothing short of extraordinary but what is most remarkable is how he accomplished it as you leave here today please pause for a moment and remember dr king's philosophy and practices not only will his dream remain alive for generations to come but it but this world will be a kinder a more accepting place for all senator brownsburg or representative rogers governing council is debating district attorney ryan selectman baghdadi and select him polo is unfortunately can be had because of eye surgery and if there's anyone that i miss will be introducing them through the program at this time i would like to invite friends from the tony williams dance center they take my afro jazz class so we are here to perform the african dance for you guys so introducing dance tr back of the auditorium outside and any parents who have two to five year olds who might like to go to the daycare room to bring them to room one for six we're little flexible on the ages if you want to go to the field house or the daycare room but just let people know i'd also like to just take a moment to thank myrtle e and for mari and and the dancers for this morning and then there's a moment right now if you need more coffee there is decaf and tea over to the right if your coffee pot needs to be refilled could you wave your arm there students working the cafeteria and they should be able to refill your coffee pot so as soon as the children who would like to leave they're welcome to stay but children who would like to leave as soon as you are a little settled will move on to the program with senator brown's burger past members of the school committee stand up where particularly fond of one of the past members of the board of selectmen paul solomon because he is such a key member of the human rights commission and we are so grateful for the other past members and current members of the selectmen and for everyone who supports this event thank you all it would not happen without that incredible support from the school committee and the superintendent in his office and all of you senator brown's burger thank you it's really a pleasure for me to introduce linda dorsey in a four a who really is a great senator and a great choice to have for this event the central challenge we face today is keeping everybody in the boat making sure that everybody's got a piece of the economic pie making sure that everybody's able to engage in our what in fact is a thriving economy but not everybody's being lifted into that as senate chair of the judiciary committee my central concern is how the criminal justice system is holding people down how the criminal justice system is keeping people from getting back into the boat after they've made a mistake senator for is going to a wonderful partner for me on those efforts but senator for it is an great all around leader on all the issues about inclusion in society about housing about jobs about education as well about as about the criminal justice system she is somebody who is leading in a lot of ways to bring everybody back into the boat she is an extraordinary senator having gotten elected from the very district that was represented for many years by billy bulger this is the senator from south boston and this is this is not so you have to recognize that talent and the leadership skills that it takes for a linda dorsey in a forum to get elected from south boston this is a person who has enormous ability to reach out to build bridges to bring people together and i really cannot imagine a better choice give a keynote address today on martin luther king's birthday so it's a great pleasure for me to  good morning everyone good morning great i am so it's a pleasure and an honor to be here with all of you i want to thank my great friend senator brownsburg or for that wonderful introduction he's someone who is a leader and i want you to know that you know fighting as chair of judiciary to make sure that our commonwealth is moving in the right direction and trying to eliminate the minimum for nonviolent drug mandatory minimum nonviolent drug offenders i want you to know your senators on the front lines fighting every day so please give him a round  to thank all the belmont human rights commission and share woman barbara watson fine vida me to speak with you on the special day i am honored honored to join you today and celebrating the life and legacy of dr martin luther king jr whose words and actions are still the example of what we can do to better ourselves as individuals but as a society when we turn on the television read a newspaper or check the internet we witness scenes of injustice and violence in cities across our country it is times like these that is important for us to remember the wisdom of dr king so we can overcome our differences and become a stronger more united people we have work to do dr king stood for you quality nonviolence and faith throughout his life when violence was used against him and other members of the civil rights movement he preached love and forgiveness instead of hate and revenge he said peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal he knew that the cause of equality could not be won with riots or destruction but through boycotts marches and peaceful demonstration and today we see both violence and nonviolent actions in the face of injustice and it is the destructive actions of a few in cities like ferguson in baltimore that have overshadowed but not silenced the peaceful calls for change from demonstrators around our country we have work to do when dr king said the measure of a man is not where he stands in moment of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenges and controversy he was asking us to make those choices these choices are ones we face every day it is the choice of a student and i see so many students here to stand up for a student being bullied because they are different it is the choice of one friend telling another friend that it is not ok to use hurtful descriptions or racial slurs even as a joke or in private it is the choice of an elected official to remind us that this country welcomes all people especially those who seek refuge from it in a time of war and terror in their home nation because it is the right thing to do equality equality starts within ourselves when we cast aside our prejudices and make the simple hard sometimes unpopular choices we become better as individuals and stronger as a community dr king teaches us that we all have a part to play in seeking justice and equality the ultimate tragedy tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people dr king said but the silence the sign over that by the good people when we stand for nothing when we allow injustice to happen because it seems too hard to overcome we lose who we are as human beings our history as americans is defined by those who take a stand against inequality and work for the rights of all people no matter our skin color religion or background we come together as one to take on the injustices of today so that we can have a more equal country tomorrow when i was growing up in dorchester i am a daughter of haitian immigrants my parents left everything in search of opportunity in this amazing country they call america and they worked hard work hard every day my dad was our housekeeper beth israel for forty five years he worked at children's hospital for thirty five years cleaning my mom was a home he aide taking care of your loved ones at home your grandparents your parents those that are disabled so for me i stand here because i saw what my parents did as immigrants they bought a two family house they still live in that house in dorchester but they came here and they had my aunts and relatives from haiti they all lived with us so really i don't need the microphone because i'm pretty loud without it but what they did after my aunt and my uncles and my cousins left this house at sixty four how would ave in dorchester they opened up the first floor apartments to other haitian immigrants to other haitian families who did not have relatives in boston and their allowed these families to stay in the apartment for free to get assimilated into this new culture they call america so i saw this firsthand how do we reach back and help those who need assistance how do we reach back and give voice to those that may not be able to express themselves when i first ran for the house in my home own haitian community i was one of many who ran and there was five of us running for state representative and i have to tell you is because of my parents that i stand here today but not just because i saw the struggle and the work that my parents did but it was the civil rights movement in the african american community that i stand here today because i recognize that every day as a picture of rosa parks stays on my wall in the state house i recognize every day the struggles of the african american community the black community here in our great commonwealth but in our country that i can be here as a first generation american and be the state senator for the first suffolk district only in this country it is  i was reminded by my parents home and their welcoming nature and i use that example when i ran for office ten years ago which is unbelievable ten years ago i've been elected but when i ran there were five of us three haitian americans two irish americans and the battle began right it was how do you win this seat but it was about door knocking and i want to recognize my good friend an incredible ally  the caribbean american political action committee who's here the kids go to go month school but they were one of my first supporters you know that we were able to be successful but we not done tours and we met people where they were and i asked the question how is it that you want government to help you what are the things that we need to do differently so when i was elected ten years ago it was a tough competition tough and made me stronger but it made me realize and appreciate the fact that my parents taught me another language they taught me how to speak creole and so for the kids in this room if you speak another language embrace that language speak the language because it's important but that was a benefit for me because when i ran on the campaign there were some conversations taking place in my native language of haitian creole where folks were saying well you know what linda's not really haitian lynn that my husband happens to be irish american limbers married told white man she's not haitian how could she represent us but thing goodness my parents taught me the language that i was able to go on haitian radio and television and talk about my haitian culture and how proud of my heritage but i fell in love with a white man yes i did i fell in love with my husband who was irish and that's ok that does not make me less haitian that does not make me less a black and so that was a benefit to me and my constituents but it's about working hard and so i was a rep for eight and a half years and we worked on issues together in mattapan in dorchester in high park and in milton i represented a city suburban district for eight and a half years and there were issues issues because i talked about a partnership i talked about bringing leaders in milton with those in boston for us to come to the table and talk about issues because we may look different but there are issues that were impacting milton that also impact boston and it's how do we bring the leaders to the table although we may think there's nothing in common there is always common ground and so it was an awesome blessing to represent the twelve suffolk district for eight and a half years and then in twenty thirteen an election came up and i have to say this because as we talk about equality there is so ver differences and divides in our country whether we talk about wealth inequality or gender inequality which is real studies have shown that you have to ask a woman i know times to run for office before we decide to do it nine times isn't that something i was in the public sector for nine and a half years before running but nine times you have to ask and a man how many times that we have to ask our brothers one time one time and that's cool we just have to get there early because we just have to get there and so when i ran in twenty thirteen for the special election that opened for the state senate you did not have to ask me nine times this time because this time i was like wait a minute that's my seat i spent eight and a half years in the state representative that is my seat and now we're going to have to run recognizing that we don't ever take anything for granted we can't ever take people's vote for granted and so we decided to run and i say we because it's a collective with it's not linda it was my family who got behind me and supported me my husband was the first one to say when state when speaker tom finneran was not going to run again linda you know you should that's your seat you should run and at that point my son john patrick is sixteen months old on my hip and my husband said you should run for state representative and i looked at him and i said are you crazy i don't think anyone is going to vote for me what do you mean i should run he said no linda i think you should run and so it took a while for me to digest it but in the process and serving with senator brown's verger you know we went from one child my husband and i to three children so my john patrick is now twenty twelve years old john patrick  right you see the french action connor who is eight that was a little tough you know my relatives are like connor a corner on our you know so that's you know that's ok madeline madeline is five years old and i have  nora as three and a half years old so it's been quite an exciting experience you know to see my kids grow up in this environment and to grow up with love but understanding that we come from a multicultural background understanding that in our household we celebrate irish culture in our household we celebrate african american history in our culture we celebrate haitian culture and that is important because this is who we are as a country so when i had a larger district in new responsibilities which included the boston so hosting the boston same patrick's day breakfast many wondered how is this black girl from do it just this woman from dorchester who became can be part of south boston and irish institution and a city councillor if you remember went so far as to say that i shouldn't hope stood even though it has always been hosted by the senator holding my scolding the seat and so this is a sixty plus year tradition as you know that's held by the state usually from south boston but i am a dorchester girl born and raised so we had to bring it back to dorchester and so it took a lot it took a lot of courage and it took really a lot of or strength i would say when the articles started coming out you know should leno really host this who does she think she is she's going to host this breakfast but the thing those guys didn't realize is that you know what i'm the real black irish and they didn't know that ok that's the joke ok you got it ok but you know i just heard from but i got to tell you i had champions and i had cheerleaders and came up former senators like congressman stephen lynch who was quoted in the paper and said question is going to host it you know she's the senator of course linda is going to host it and you know what she's pretty funny you know i don't know you guys don't know that but she's pretty hilarious and then we had president bolger who also spoke up and said well of course she's going to host the breakfast you know as she is because she is  state senator from south boston and so i saw the best in my friends and supporters during that period they were not sign and they stood with me and said you can host it and we will be there by so it is times like these when personally you know i have to take a deep breath and i have to think of dr king's observe and try to use it in my life that i might be i might be angry and want to lash out at the old who are somewhat prejudiced against me i would say i remember dr king's words love is the only force capable of turning an enemy into a friend the harder i work for my district to represent all of my constituents the more i feel i am affecting real change but we have an opportunity an opportunity to join in these times of challenges and controversy to work to realize dr martin luther king's dream as a nation we have already come far but there is so much more we can do we must work f inclusive and diverse schools so our children grow up in an environment that is nurturing to all we have work to do we must strengthen our communities and support growth in our local businesses  economies because then we can help lift people in families out of poverty we have work to do we must help to create jobs and after school activities for our teenagers that they have a place to thrive and grow into the amazing individuals that they were meant to be we have work to do we must address address the growing divide in our country  inequality and gender inequality we have work to do when for a man getting a dollar and seventy seven cents for women seventy seven cents on a dollar for women for black women it's sixty seven cents on that dollar for a latino woman it is fifty four cents on that dollar we have work to do we must address our criminal justice system and we have an incredible leader as i said and senator brownsburg are working with the house and senate to make sure we can address the inequalities that are facing  we have work to do and we have to work with our police departments here in our commonwealth of though we have not experienced what has happened around the country but we know there are racial bias sees that we have as individuals there are biases that we carry with us where we go and so we have to work with our police departments to make sure that community leaders and religious leaders can come together and have a real real conversation of where we are when we talk about race in boston i have the honor ever growing up in boston an incredible city with an incredible leader in commissioner evans the police department they were closely he works closely with community leaders and take pride in the neighborhoods they protect just two weeks ago a police officer was shot in dorchester the police responded and arrested the suspect it could have been a different outcome but the police department in boston took  and said wait they worked with local residents and businesses to make sure they knew they were a safe thinking to a peaceful resolution to our horrible solution thankfully the officer is recovering so we must build on this trust and training in boston and other cities so that we no longer see the tragic end of life that has become all too common in today's life and in today's stories so we have work to do we have so much to learn from dr martin luther king jr if we use this example in our lives today we will chile have stronger communities and a more equal and just nation but it's not just today it's not just on this one day this special day it's every day every day i need you to walk out here every day and recognize in see the inequalities that are happening around you i need you to speak up when you see something is off color and something is wrong i need you to have the conversation with your friends to say this is where we need to be and in light of the presidential election that is happening it is a whole heck of a mass when we see the types of bullying which that is being flung around when we see the type of movement that is happening around the country when we see this hateful ness that is being perpetrated when we see this hatefulness that is being groomed and lift up to the light it is wrong so when we have our friends and we think it's funny of some of the comments that are taking place on the national stage it is not funny it is not funny because immigration is a real issue and we have the honor of having a mayor who was first generation american like myself his parents immigrated here from haiti working hard like my parents working hard like a lot of our parents so he comes in with the lens of seeing what his parents had to go through so we have to step up we have to step up and say this type of language in america is unacceptable we have to step up and say this type of language and to scrapes and really putting people down will not be tolerated so you have an opportunity today when you leave you so you have an opportunity today when you leave here to reach out to your friend and to reach out to your families who may be on that line and to remind them remind them of your heritage remind them of their history if not the civil rights history then remind them of your grandparents your great grandparents someone came here first someone came here when the irish came here in the eighteen hundreds it was horrible the way they were treated on the boston common no dogs no irish on the boston college commons to apply for a job no irish need apply this isn't different it's not different it happens and so we have to remember that we have to remember that every day and so i am grateful grateful to be out here in belmont and i have to tell you we have connections to this amazing city my mother in law casey was born here her parents immigrated from ireland in the one nine hundred thirty s she lived at five vincent ave and went to st luke's grammar school so there are connections here and we are connected all of us so we may not look alike but know that the connection is the best we want for our children what is the best that we want for our neighbors what is the best opportunity that we want everyone who calls this place so i thank you today i think again the belmont human rights commission for inviting me i thank my good friend senator brownsburg i want to commend the belmont mel met coal and the belmont school department your superintendent john allen we work together in milton he's an awesome guy and i want to thank belmont against racism thank you  thank you all for being here today and thank you for letting this woman from dorchester speak to you god bless boston is an amazing community and i think you know with the lens of us here but really folks outside of the country they still think of boston as one nine hundred seventy s boston as busing but it is not the same and we've come a long way and southey is an incredible community because the issues that are impacting them are impacting us in dorchester in matter pin in high park when we talk about housing when we talk about displacement and gentrification when it when we talk about addiction when we talk about you know getting people jobs so it's really an incredible community and it's an honor really to represent th in the commonwealth particularly in public higher education but as we stand here today i think it's clear that history provides us with an important lens on our society as it stands today right that we're we're we're gathered here in honor of a man who died fifty years ago yet he's still ideas are still shaping our communities and so i'm wondering you know how can we ensure that students are able to you know come from poor communities come from poor backgrounds underprivileged backgrounds and still have access to studying the humanities in the local art so that we can create a new generation of intellectuals of activists of politicians of artists of all different walks of life and different backgrounds so that we can have you know cultural and intellectual forward very good good question i would say that you know one of the big focus is that we're doing is obviously universal universal kindergarten in pre k i think that zero to five as a mom four zero to five is the most critical time in a child's life we know that there is a lot of folks young parents who are immigrants may not speak the language with their children maybe at home with a grandparent or an on in an uncle but how do we make sure that that child has the quality and the first steps in learning the basics and when i talk to my constituents and you know a spanish speakers or vietnamese because i said ok listen you have the child that's ok let's s your language because my first language was haitian creole was not english until i went to school at three years old up the street and then you know in this daycare and we learned english or learned english from channel two right sesame street remember when cartoons were only on saturdays now it's every day but but i think that's very important but i also think that you know making sure that we're addressing that the educational aspect is critical because i think that the most important piece is how do we create the wrap around services in our schools teachers can't do it all right they just can't but where the social emotional counselors that are in place were the folks who the guidance counselors that could give support because i believe truancy is a marker a marker on where a child is heading if a kid is not showing up to school then we have a list if a kid is running late consistently but in particular not showing up expulsion is not it expelling a kid is not going to help it's how do we bring the wrap around services to address the need of that child to understand and peel back the layers of what's going on with that kid could it be family could they be in a community where on their way to school they almost got jumped and they show up to your classroom adrenalin  pumping and so they can't sit down they can't sit down does that kid need to be expelled no i think we need to bring that kid out of the classroom into another room to talk about what's going on so we have work to do not just putting it on the child because there's no such thing as bad babies there's no such things as bad toddlers it's what we put into them as adults but i believe in the capacity the capacity as individuals but the capacity of individuals in human beings to love and show compassion for our young people to say we're going to try to dress to where you are and go into the household and understand now some people maybe we don't want you in our homes no no we need to understand because of the child's not showing up something happening so we need to understand so we can give support to the adults in that kid's life give support if it's job training so they can get a job if it's a ged let's get your ged if there are other things like addiction which is a big issue in our commonwealth big big issue then let's put you in treatment so you know there's a whole host of things that we need to be doing but thank you for your work as an educator which is critical but it's really looking at the lands not just education but if a kid is having a problem what are the resources and support we're going to give to that child thank you maybe i hope relevant to most of the people here in belmont we have i would say in my limited capacity here for the last nine years living here not necessarily in incredibly diverse population  i would love to know from you what you think about policies and implementation of programs that help to increase the diversity in an affluent suburb of boston and i think that that actually goes to what's happening downtown as well and in other suburbs i'd love your thoughts ok very good thank you so much good question i'll say you know my district is south boston dorchester mattapan and a little bit of high park and if you look at south boston major major transformation taking place whether it's on the waterfront but in the neighborhoods of south boston where you have a lot of families that are being displaced that's been there for generations and they did not think of buying a house they did not think of buying a house because the person who owned it was a friend and they were renting for years like decades and then the person who was renting to them for cheap that was right and the family comes in swoops in a rent that was twelve hundred dollars a month is now three thousand dollars a month and so these families are being displaced right so i will say that in terms of diversity and this is interesting because you know even though it may be a few met go it's critical the medco program that is in the schools very important because it's important for your children to see that it's not just everything doesn't just look like them right there are other people in our world community there are other people and other cultures in this place we call belmont i mean this place we call massachusetts there are other people and it's important that our children get that connection that we are connected to each other whether you're white or black but it does not matter you know we're all connected but one of the things i will say  an opportunity is through housing so i chaired two committees i chair the committee on intergovernmental affairs and i share the committee on housing and i serve on for additional committees the committee on mental health and substance abuse the committee on education the committee on transportation and the committee on health care financing but there is a whole conversation to have around housing and i say that because in our commonwealth we have three hundred fifty one cities and towns in our great commonwealth and the laws on our books say that ten per cent of the housing stock in each community has to be affordable ten percent of the housing stock and i can tell you not half of our cities and towns meeting that ten percent but now this is where the lens of bias comes in right because we have these racial biases that come in so folks will say affordable housing i don't say affordable housing really i don't use that term anymore and i don't use that term because when you say oh wow we need to create affordable housing people like we don't want those people we don't want those people in my community who are those people coming but it's not that it's creating housing that's affordable it's creating housing that is mocked affordable so that your child that is getting out of college can afford to live in their community so that the senior and the grandparent and the parent who raise all their children here in belmont is able to live in stay and die in belmont so what is affordable instead of that house being eight hundred thousand dollars we wanted to be three hundred fifty four hundred thousand dollars so i think that is a rude way to do it is to create housing and so does that mean that it will bring folks from boston in not necessarily and so i've been going around the the developer can come in and put a high density project and i tell to the folks in my committee and when we're doing hearings that listen we shouldn't say density i mean we could talk density in boston because we have you know transit oriented development we have the communal rail lines we have transportation i mean we could put three hundred units next to a place like that but in communities like this if you're not used to high rises then when people say density automatically you think oh man you come in with a twenty four story of a building into my community when we only have a three story right the level of the homes here are only three stories high where you want to come in with a twenty four story so i say this this is where leadership comes in you've got to hold your leaders accountable you've got a whole jellied is a con a ball and having a real conversation and real dialogue of what we need to do as a community and i say that because as i see and it's important to you guys eyes on a prize just aired last night you all should who are watch eyes on the prize it's been thirty years since it was done and it is quite an amazing amazing amazing documentary around the civil rights movement and so we watched it with our two oldest boys last night john who's twelve and connor who's eight and emmett till you know it's the awakening right so it's nine hundred fifty four to nine hundred fifty six it's several series you know several episodes and that's the first one  son's like what's going on i know i'm like ok cover your eyes but this is part of our history it's important that we understand this was just like sixty years ago that is nothing serious sixty years ago rosa parks on the bus sixty years ago i mean for small children here they're like well sixty years is a long time you know but i mean seriously that is not a long time so it's important for us to realize that the history so back to that i'll just say that having a conversation with the officials are important because in boston when busing happened ok i was a baby i was and i was born in one nine hundred seventy three so it kind of like you know i kind was growing up in that but i was in my mom's on site but i mean this is where the leader is the city council of boston slapped on their responsibility on what they were supposed to be doing when federally there was supposed to desegregate the schools and what's more fascinating when i was run when i was running for state senate i was on a radio show a black radio show and the woman who was there said but when you take that kind of leadership the leaders of the day when all they had to do yes it would have been tough but is to have the courage to bring their neighbors together have the courage to have a real conversation we have to do this guys federally this is the law black folks are in south boston anyway there's no rioting there's no fighting so let's work on something but they did nothing so we got work to do we got a lot of work to do as many of you know laurie has been a member of the school committee for eight years she was chair for at least three of those years and she's retiring this month i'm lori graham is a very humble person but if you go to any event that involves volunteers for an important call laurie is there she's not loud about it but it's hard to turn around in belmont and not see her whether it's at the school committee or at the food pantry or other food sensitive ideas she has also been chair of the human rights commission she's banned and the belmont special education advisory commission and many other boards she has been so supportive of the bomb and human rights commission that we are very grateful we also know this is a grateful town and again if we want to see someone who walks and dr king shoes every day it's lori graham thank you again would you like to say anything thank  you i don't know what to say thank you thank you very much one of the things that i have found about in this community and i've only lived here for twenty one years so i'm still a newbie  is that people really do come together and one of the amazing things that i found is that people come together in times of celebration they come together in times of great grief and sorrow and we' good morning everyone my name is shawna townes and i am a parent i am a medical parent of a graduating senior this year name ashley who i am extremely proud of and it has been an honor to fall in laurie's right behind her as she has been one of the most welcoming people in this community to us so thank you laurie it is always wonderful to have so many people attend this powerful event that supports our children in a medical program it is hard to believe that my thirteen years as a belmont parent is coming to an end i am involved with bittersweet thoughts my journey with the meco program didn't start with ashley it started for me in one thousand nine hundred ninety one when i accept that when i was accepted into the medical program as a first grader my journey was very different from hers the first day consisted of them bring him into the wrong school where i stayed all day in the office i don't remember it being a pleasant place it was more intimidating everything and everyone was foreign to me and on top of that no one looked like me and that was outside of the children who travelled on the buses to the school with me now the reason i had endured my new surroundings was because my mother kept emphasizing how i was going to get a better education i just never knew at what price the first week wasn't enjoyable during the first week i had someone call me the n word my form of retaliation was to get physical i got reprimanded  other child didn't at least not in front of me i remember being told that the word man and ignorant person and i responded but they said it to me i didn't understand how they were taking that word so lightly it was a word that i heard white people use to address my mom in a hateful manner so my six year old self was not buying into their definition of the word i wanted my mom to take me out of the program but she refused she knew what i didn't understand that we were paving the way for future generations of children who would enter into the medical program my first year was challenging i was an angry little black girl who resented going to school where i didn't feel welcomed i did have one person who embraced me and that was my first grade teacher my second year something amazing happened a little white girl asked me to play with her that person in her family became my host family which is now what we refer to as belmont families her family treated me like their own child that young lady and her family are still a significant part of my life forty three years later what i learned was that it wasn't the color of my skin it was ignorance that played so many people then and still now my thirteen year journey was challenging as many many were still trying to figure out how to help us better and those were only the people who cared i had many teachers whom i felt didn't care about me or my success as a student i felt like i had to rely on myself my journey was tough because i was on a roller coaster which i never knew which way it was going when ashley was accepted into medical program i was excited and apprehensive at the same time i knew that i was going to be taken this journey with her and that it couldn't be the same as what i had experienced her journey has had some similarities to mine such as adapting to a different culture new environment getting up early in the morning and coming home later in the evening what her journey has not embraced is bigotry and hatred she has experienced supportive caring teachers and staff that have been wonderful friends that embrace their differences and families who have welcomed her into their homes to those who have pretty much adopted her into their family which i don't see her on occasions we have also been fortunate to have a devoted and minister who are always considering the challenges our children face as they try to implement improvements to the system to ensure their success we are constantly learning from each other and bias educating one another we are making a difference we are teaching all of our children that black lives matters matter as we are bombarded by the injustice that the media is bring into our attention but let's step back and take no as to our world continue our world continues to change it is not just black lives that matter but all lives matter so as this program continues to thrive we need your help to ensure its continuing success thank you for welcoming us into your community and for allowing yourselves to be educated by us as you educate our children martin martin luther king's dream has been part of my journey little black children and little white children working together to ensure a better place and a better world for all of our children part of the mirco program i live in boston specifically hyde park being a part of the belmont community since i was in kindergarten i find myself more familiar with places in belmont than places in boston as this is my last year as a student in belmont there is so much i would like to share but i don't think any of us have that amount of time so stick to what is significant from the very beginning i had no problem adapting to my new surroundings my teachers were caring and welcoming i never felt like an outsider no one treated me differently than other bomb our children i would like to say that everything was totally enjoyable but then i wouldn't be honest being bullied taught me how to stand up for myself be a leader and the importance of being assertive another experience i have embraced is understanding true friendship and sincerity i found that in my two best friends michelle and elizabeth these two people have been my best friends since fourth and fifth grade i believe we are what you call lifetime friends as a no move forward to embrace many journey i had my two best friends by my side and treat it like a family member in both of their homes and they and mine we're always having sleep overs what i want you all to understand is that due to the support from against racism i have been granted many opportunities to engage in social activities extracurricular activities and educational support which is allowed me to become a successful student this can only continue to happen with your help and kindness i would like to see many other meco students excel as i have not only in the classroom but in the end the bell not community as well i am happy to start a new journey in college i am also saddened to leave all of my supportive friends teachers and the generous people like yourselves whom i have met thank you for continuing to support  so after listening to all these you know kind of amazing belmont stories it really becomes readily apparent why the medco program is such a vital and important part of our belmont belmont is a better more interesting and more caring town because we have made a commitment to medco and our metcalfe families in turn have made a commitment to belmont it's a two way street the results are really impressive because the level of commitment on both sides is substantial this mutual commitment goes way far beyond just sitting together in the classroom and learning the same subject material school is also about friends sports music clubs student government getting extra help after school and social events those are the essential parts of the school experience that make you feel really connected participating actively in afterschool activities is much easier if the school is within walking distance or a short drive from your house but when commuting time is an hour or more you may find yourself missing out on the parts of school that really matter to a child or teenager and that's where the medco support fun comes in the mikko support fund was established by belmont against racism in this administered by the belmont school system this fund pays the entire cos providing safe reliable afterschool trains transportation for our medco high school students it also provides grants across the entire school system to make sure that all their students can be together play together learn from each other and have fun together in special after school activities and it helps support mentoring programs that allow our medco students to feel more connected to our wonderful faculty and staff over the year organisations like the cadmus group cambridge savings bank and the high school in chennai repeat teoh's have been very loyal sponsors but the vast majority of our funds come from individuals like you sitting right here at the m l k breakfast this year the fund is been used primarily for transportation which is one of our co commitments but the requests for additional programs currently exceed our ability to fund them for example the wonderful folks from chandlery middle school family friends program right over there they work tirelessly to build relations between palestinian belmont students and families and they have some unfunded programs that could really use your support so this practice is the one and only time that we ask for donations for the medical support fund now amazingly enough this year we have three count them three different ways that you can support us you can write a check and you can if you don't have your checkbook with you you can fill out your credit card or fill out your pledge card or this year as a special bonus you can just use your credit card ok we have our wonderful friendly members who are sitting in the back with credit card readers and you just have to bring your credit card right to the back they're waving to you and you can and you can donate that way if you're using even your check or your pledge card you just placed them right here in the on below and toward the end of the this breakfast will be coming by and picking them up so you can write a check make a pledge or swipe your card it's that simple so to put you in the let's donate a lot mood we have some wonderful beautiful music that will be playing and this will give you the golden opportunity to write that check or fill in that pledge card or bring your credit or debit card right to the back so thanks everyone for coming to this really important and to all of and and special thanks for demonstrating your commitment to the medco support fund this year take it away  good morning everyone my name is john phailin of the very proud superintendent of the belmont public schools very happy to be here today to address the crowd to re regain my friendship with senator for who i have not seen in a few years he used to work in my neighborhood and represented by my neighborhood in milton massachusetts she's a fantastic speaker as well as think senator brownsburg we had some great performers tonight  this after this morning we had four freshmen in the quartet there that just played please give them a great round of applause all freshm i'm just going to give out a few thank yous and then ask a question that dr king asked all of us many years ago i'd like to thank a few folks who are not recognized already today we have marion ryan the middlesex county d a thank you marion for being here along with chief police chief of police mclachlan david hill our town administrator and representative dave rogers is also here thank you very much for being here today we have two active school committee members and many former school committee members but we have susan burgess cox and obviously laurie graham who was our today and didn't richards our high school principal spoke as well so thank you to all of those folks like everything that happens is a lot of behind the scenes work done i would like to thank our d p w facilities and custodial folks for cleaning the grounds today to make sure we got it safely and i wonderful cafeteria workers who are tired to bring you food this morning thank you to those folks directly to our students to get them home safely in the afternoon and at night during this fall winter and spring season so it's very important in my meetings with meco parents transportation is the number one priority in the safety of the children getting home every day so when i meet with them when we meet in roxbury and does the square when i meet with people call oh they come to my office to talk their main priority is to children's safety all of our priorities for our students and our families to safety so this money goes towards that and so we appreciate you supporting that meco fund that you are today i leave you with a question that dr king gave us over thirty years ago  asked life's most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others and it's nice to be able to work in a community that think of thinks of that on a day like today but also acts on that throughout the year i would quote senator for you to say that there is always work to be done but the think that we are bringing that work into our community each day with a wonderful group of people that are hit today and many o who contribute were very fortunate in the town of don't want so thank you very much for being here today thank you for your efforts and your donations and thank you very much to barbara watson for bringing us this event as well so thank you very much  and at this time would like to invite rabbi cross to the podium in our tradition we speak about the saving remnants of thank you for still being here every year around this time i tend to hear dr king's voice that beautiful eloquent preacher's voice reverberating in my head and my heart especially tend to feel rising up within me fragments of that beloved speech delivered all those years ago on the steps of the lincoln memorial every year i feel like i hear that powerful preacher's voice all over again with those familiar says and those rising waves of deep feeling as the leaves flow through dr king soul through each of us as those waves of truth washes over all of us i hear the voice speaking difficult painful truths that remind us of how broken we still are but i also hear the voice speaking inspiring and hopeful truths that remind us of who we meant to be that remind us of who we are still capable of becoming even now so this particular year my heart keeps returning to the sound of dr king's voice as it quotes the prophet amos standing there on those famous steps a modern baptist prophet quoting an ancient hebrew prophet when he said no no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream but here's the thing i keep thinking this year while those waters of justice may surely have their source in god the stream that flows with those waters has to be a human creation those waters of righteousness may be born in the mysterious depths of our souls or in a place some of us call heaven but the only force that can make those holy waters flow in this world the only power that can open those floodgates in our society it's human words and human actions and human choices god creates the possibility of justice in the world and god surely calls us to righteousness but it is left for us to make that promise real so here is my prayer to honor dr king's life and legacy and teaching yes god let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream help us to find the courage the commitment the patience the wisdom the humility and the faith we will need if we are ever going to actually move those deep waters of justice yes god help us together to become that mighty stream let the waters of righteousness move through the legislation we pass through effective advocacy in our communities in our nation through peaceful protest and yes  through simple conversation with our neighbors who are far too often still strangers to us help us god to make those waters rush with a fierce insistent call for justice but let the in the world and in our hearts be redemptive and not destructive let the river we create together flow with a love that is strong and a strength that is loving help us to bring the day soon when those mighty waters washed away old walls of fear and ignorance and he treated and leave behind instead the rich soil in which we can plant new seeds of hope and let us all be privileged to witness the healing power of those waters of the day when at last they flow into an ocean of brotherhood and sisterhood into a sea of generosity and kindness and understanding so yes god let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream help us please to stir that water of justice to move that water of righteousness to free that water of all constraints and guided past every obstacle so that the river of justice will flow once again towards life and blessing and goodness and peace and let us s again first i know that on the program and since i'll be singing lift every voice palfrey's me thing the song powerful which is from a pretty popular t v show called empire and then i will be singing lift every voice and i would like