As Katani Sumner started to perform Lift Every Voice and Sing on January 15, she encouraged the entire audience in the Newton North High School auditorium to join in as the moving lyrics were projected behind her.
The Newton South High School METCO counselor’s rousing rendition of the more than 120-year-old song was just one element of Newton’s 56th annual community celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Everybody can serve,” was the theme of this year’s event, reflecting the fact that “MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities,” according to AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism.
Newton’s Harmony Foundation partners with several groups – including the Mayor’s Office, Newton Public Schools, the Newton Interfaith Clergy Association, Village Bank, Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ), Newton’s Human Rights Commission, the Rotary Club of Newton, and the Newton Theatre Company – to oversee the annual event.
Several speakers and musical groups honored Dr. King through words of wisdom and song. Most praised the ideals of community service as well as city students.
“So many Newtonians are putting their shoulders to the wheel” to help others, said Mayor Ruthanne Fuller. She praised the theme of this year’s event and said anyone can give back.
In between speakers, the all-student Newton All City Troubadours performed a few tunes. One of the chorus’ leaders, Newton Public Schools music teacher Eric Ritter, took a moment to make a pitch to the audience – which included Mayor Fuller and members of the City Council and School Committee – about the stalled teacher contract negotiations. He said he hoped the City will provide more resources for the schools.
Other than Ritter’s contract remarks, the program focused on Dr. King, his legacy, and message as well as the challenges children of color are experiencing today at school.
The keynote speaker, Bentley University president E. LaBrent Chrite, Ph.D., said he struggled to understand how the U.S. has retreated from Dr. King’s vision and forgotten some of the lessons from the Civil Rights Era.
He had three broad requests for the audience:
- To commit to actively engaging in a cause that is “greater than you”;
- To commit to becoming dedicated to a more universal display of empathy;
- To challenge oneself to understand and engage in ideas that differ from one’s own.
After Sumner sang Whitney Houston’s The Greatest Love of All, audience members left, with many continuing on to join city-sponsored service projects, including helping local clothing charity, Cradles to Crayons.
Hoping to encourage others to live up to Dr. King’s message, Harmony Foundation member Renande Loayza said, “We need more love.”
