As we all know, Monday, January 17th is the national holiday established to honor the life and legacy of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As I write this message, teams of students from USM, SMCC and UNE, and volunteers from the community including AmeriCorps members and members of the NAACP Portland Branch are preparing to launch a four-day collaborative MLK Role Models Project with LearningWorks Afterschool at East End and Reiche Elementary Schools. Volunteers will lead children in three classrooms at each site in reading My Brother Martin by Christine King Farris, reflecting on Dr. King as a role model, then considering who their own role models are and how they, too, can serve as role models by embodying the qualities they have identified in others. Students' responses will take a variety of artistic forms which will then be assembled into large-scale books for display.
Other community events to honor Dr. King this weekend are listed on the NAACP's web site: http://www.portlandmlk.net . NAACP President Rachel Talbot Ross has asked me to convey that scholarships are available so that cost should not be a barrier to any who wish to participate in the dinner event. Along with Steve Wessler and Jonathan Reitman, I will be serving as a facilitator in the Community Conversation on Monday, January 18th at 1:00 PM at Preble Street Resource Center. I hope to see many of you there, and for the March to City Hall that will follow.
Yours in the continuing journey toward Beloved Community,
ATM
Andrea Thompson McCall, Director
- Community Service Learning
- Interfaith Chaplaincy
University of Southern Maine
P.O. Box 9300
Portland, ME 04104-9300
Phone 207-228-8284
FAX 207-228-8403
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