every year the human relations department our commission awards social justice awards to members in our community who are doing justice work justice building we do it during martin luther king week because of all the work that dr martin luther king jr did for the people in our country i'd like to talk a little bit very quickly about dr king i happened to be reading his letters from bernie birmingham and i don't think i ever really really paid attention to what they have to say and i'm just going to say a couple of short things read from his letter and then we'll start with the bread and butter of the social justice awards dr king was criticized for being in birmingham and his response was i am in birmingham because injustice is here just as the eighth century prophets left their little villages and carried their thus saith the lord far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns and just as the apostle paul leftists little village of tarsus and carried the gospel of jesus christ to practically every hamlet and city of the brickell warman roman world i am i too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown like paul i must constantly respond to the macedonian call for aid then he went on to talk more about the different communities and how we're all related and he says injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere as i continued through the letter there was a couple of things that i was i can't believe that i never really paid  attention and i think my heart was was in the right place as i was reading this it all came together so he was being criticized because he was speaking out people were saying it's the wrong time it's not the right time wait a little longer and he says we know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntary voluntarily given by the oppressor it must be demanded by the all pressed and he continues to say frankly i have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was well timed according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the dig disease of segregation for years now i have heard the word must have been at such an unusual place to be there in jail for trying to do what's right and as we've learned through the girl great profits and and hebrew scripture anyone who spoke for justice was usually to say you express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws this is certainly and legitimate concern since we so diligently urge people to obey the same court supreme court's decision of one nine hundred fifty four outline segregation in the public schools it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws one may well ask how can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others the answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws there are just laws and there are unjust laws i would agree with st augustine that an unjust law is no law at all he continues to talk about just an unjust law and then he reminds us we can never forget that everything hitler did in germany was legal and everything the human hungry and freedom fighters did and hungry was illegal it was illegal to aid and comfort a jew in hitler's germany so we need to be very cognizant of everything that happens around us we need to be actively listening listening and paying attention as we we found in that situation i was really struck by the fact in a i did not realize that this letter was targeted toward the church and he says the contemporary church is so often a weak and i voice with an uncertain sound it is so often the arch supporter of the status quo far from being disturbed by the presence of the church the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church as often bold vocal sanction of things as they are i can only imagine how abandoned he must have felt since he himself was a minister and then later on he writes i hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour but even if the church does not come to the aid of justice i have no despair about the future i'm going to stop here because i think that it's important to remember that so many people often say things and they're really looking even though they're in that moment and they feel abandoned they're predicting things they're seen things that are going to happen in the future i was reading about persecution of christians all over the world archbishop silvano maria thomas address the united nations who meant human rights council in may and this is what he said credible research has reached this shocking conclusion that every year an estimate of more than one hundred thousand christians are killed because of some relation to their faith hundred thousand i also looked at different sources to confirm their numbers some people said ten thousand christians were being persecuted others said well you can't count all the people that are persecuted for this reason or for that but i do want to say that even though we live in today's modern world where every we have every freedom that we could possibly have in the united states don't think for one minute that injustice can occur in this country  with that said i've never really talked about dr king during the social justice award and i just felt that it was important to do that this year let us not forget all those who are unjustly persecuted speaking out who are speaking the truth with love with the end i'd like to start the social justice awards and i'd like to invite claridge's and i'm sorry i remember your name sorry good evening to you how you thought of eyes or council is proud to present kyler b o for the human relations commission's youth social justice award this year for his efforts to fundraise soccer balls to send to guatemala unfortunately kyler is unable to be with us tonight as hughes returned to the liberty university in virginia where he is a freshman here tonight accepting the award for him is colors father dana hahn high school graduate believe that regardless of age where you're from or where you belong in society that we can all come together as one and help one another color believe that you have influence is something that should never be underestimated the student should never shy away because they are too young he mentors and guides orphans who are hoping to get an education or career kyler believes that simply because one was born into a circumstance doesn't mean that their life should be defined by that which is also for mar is now in his dedication to those abroad but his dedication to those close to home karlee worked as a young life leader for two years bringing his experiences abrar close to home to home he teaches his fellow you that there's more to the person than their appearance and background and that no matter what no matter if you're thirteen or forty three it gradually hardworking businessman or woman you can make a difference what's exciting is the leadership that we're seeing demonstrated by claire and jasmine and i understand there's a big committee of people like you that are part of this and boy i'm really excited for the leadership you're providing here in the holiday areas and thank you for what you're keller thinks this is a very meaningful award he wishes he was here to be able to accept it it's a pretty unique kind of legacy award for our family some of you know my my mom and dad phil and kathy beale have been very volved and social justice over the years so it's neat for him to be able to carry on that family legacy and there are some really connections with a lot of the high schools here in the area not just holland but holland christian and others that were a part of the support of the things that he did as well so thanks everybody you know for being able to be part of that and supporting this effort for social justice thank you  good evening everyone my name is tomato keen on the chairperson for the human relations commission for the city of holland i think like to thank you for your time is here tonight the human relations commission the social justice wards are a kind of a extension of our mission of inclusion equity as it relates to the community and today we're fortunate to be recognizing a couple individuals who kind of i mean late what social justice is in a community prior to that though i'd like to thank a few people who are not of tie in the commission and our meetings and such the support that we have from city hall at city manager city clerk of course our city council and our mayor thank you so much  last of course i would like to thank my fellow commissioners if you're in attendance please stand up including our youth representatives this diverse group of individuals are we meet and our support of step up are committed to inclusion equity in our community our tireless advocates for positive change education and awareness thank you all our first recipient is sarah your minister out she's been recognized for her advocacy in immigration recognizing anger at the immigration population is under served in west michigan sara provides legal services for a nominal fee to immigrants in west michigan and i just saw ryan city city manager as well thank you on november two thousand fifteen sarah opened a nonprofit immigration legal service office lighthouse immigration advocates located at the mecca tell resource center she is recognizable as a leading advocate for community members in need of immigration assistance with a special focus on youth and victims of crime such as trafficking abuse or or sexual assault she is also an educator and speaks regularly regarding important changes and u s immigration law and policy immigration rights and immigration related fraud prevention as executive director of white house immigrant advocates she provides both direct legal services and training to local agencies and the community to educate others on immigration issues and how to best serve this vulnerable population she does all this with obvious passion kindness and cultural sensitivity sarah has previously worked for justice for our neighbors immigration legal services the michigan state college of law immigration clinic and volunteered with the michigan coalition for immigrant  i'm just going to her to remain on our block in recognition of her advocacy in immigration through education and provision of affordable legal immigration services to the under served with an emphasis on youth and victims of crime we would probably present the city of you out so i am quite humbled and actually feel incredibly on where the have an honor such as this and all truthfulness the word doesn't really belong to me you've all heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child and in this case it also takes a village several villages in fact to raise a nonprofit attorney so tonight i would like to commit this award to my village  my parents and in laws who set the pace for community service and nonprofit work my partner is on the floor there who challenges me and serves as the engine that keeps my machine running day after day my mentors and colleagues at michigan state the diocese a grand rapids justice for neighbors and all the law office my children who put life in perspective and keep my feet on the ground my board of directors who are beyond dictated to immigrant social justice so much so they followed me into and supported me throughout this dream of mine and in fact our other award winner tonight is my board president so clearly devoted staff attorney kiley who dove in blind and had first with me thank you my other staff attorney and new staff attorney and different christina who dragged my carcass through law school and is now dragging me through this venture as a founder and director of a nonprofit a law office my clients in this community with faith in my advocacy skills and abilities and finally everyone in this room and outside of this room who has been kind enough to sit down with a coffee or beer and share his or her wisdom you know who you are so congratulations to my village you deserve this award so much more and so much more  and thank you for all that you've done and all that you do and all that you will do so yeah thank you everyone but all the things that he's done in the impact that he's had could not fit on this paper he's touched so many people and so many causes in organizations we're very lucky to have adam here for the time that he's been here  he's always given his heart fully to whatever he's done and he's always melted made everyone feel very welcome and done everything he could to fight for people who may not have had the voice to fight for themselves or the platform that may have elbowed his way into and for that we thank him and pre shared him i want to thank him personally as a friend and also as a member of this community for all the service that he's done for all of us and some things that i want to say and i don't feel like reading it i just wanted down to know that he was very appreciated by all of us here in this room and we could probably all come up here and present this award to him because everybody would have so many great things to say about him and for everything he's done for this community so don you're very deserving in this ward and i feel proud to call you my friend and to present this award to you today nobody likes to see a person at a podium with a piece of paper but if you'll indulge me i want to think of the human relations commission to have a sister city council everyone assembled here today everybody who may be able to witness this event later i don't know if it's recorded i also want to obviously think sarah europe minister how it for allowing me to be a part of the lighthouse immigrant advocates program organization  we know that we know that immigrants deserve and have the right to quality legal services at the lowest possible cost and it is an absolute honor to work with her in that team in that capacity so our eva didn't expect to cry before this so i didn't practice for this so it's taught me a lot it was here that i learned that being in the minority is not the same thing is being wrong it is here that i learned that the best candidate does not necessarily win the race it is here that i learned that action and empathy are the building blocks of social justice and when put together they unleash the energy of ethical behavior and this i dare to suggest to you all is what ben's the arc of the moral universe that our beloved dr martin luther king so described and our community can celebrate moving and bending the arc of that moral universe in a variety of ways the unused connections program which i need to give a special hoekstra our city manager ryan cotton the people of skate ministries and everyone who has supported that organization through their time energy efforts and financial support the variety of university preparation programs the youth mentorship program some of the participants are here today the multicultural programs that the city provides the citizens police academy and two things that are very dear to my heart the feeding america mobile food pantry program and pancakes r us take however having said that our community has yet to connect these basic building blocks of social justice in some ways the dropout rate for our non white high school students is unacceptably and persistently too high there is a lack of affordable housing in the city and we see it most readily in homelessness there are immigrant families and friends who fear federal detention and or outright deportation from the country that they love and the country that we love there are people who men women and children who have to stand at max a bus stations without benefit of bench or shelter waiting for a ride exposed to the harsh michigan elements and there is an intentional refusal to acknowledge that hollanders who are gay lesbian  transgender deserve basic civil rights but above all the else of all above all else i have learned to be bold and i encourage you all to be bold as well if you are christian raise your voice in support of the muslims if you are a citizen raise your voice in support of the immigrant if you had dinner tonight raise your voice in support of the hungry if you are white raise your voices in support of black lives your voice may be in the minority but you will not be wrong and as you practice the tenor of your voice sign up to run for city council next year you may may lose but you will be the best hollins people has been the honor of my life thank you all so much for allowing me to help and assist you in bending the moral our of our shared universe in this city just a little bit i wish that it were more thank you thank you dan aled thank you so much for coming this evening there is a small reception outside in the atrium and i would like to first of our ask if anyone is interested in being serving on a board commission please see me also we are looking for families to host individuals from the prefecture of shiga so if you're interested in being a host family for two weeks this year please see me i also want to invite you to a justice builder who will be speaking here in holland at the library on february fifteenth his name is calvin to raul if you have the opportunity to stop  do you you will be you will learn a lot and your heart will be moved and finally for those of you who won awards i would like to ask you to go up to the second floor atrium so we can take some pictures and those of you attending the reception don't lean on the walls we just painted with their thank you very much