Volunteers Build Community During MLK Day of Service
Rachel Melendez Mabee, speaker at BCC's opening breakfast, says her great-grandmother's journey through racism and injustice sets the tone for the work still ahead.
The holiday kicked off in Pittsfield with an opening breakfast featuring keynote speaker Greylock Federal Credit Union's Rachel Melendez Mabee, who oversees its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, culture and brand.
Before her speech, Mabee played a brief clip about her great-grandmother Mamie Lang Kirkland, who lived through the violence of racial terrorism during the Jim Crow era. She died in 2020 at the age of 111.
"It took her 100 years to tell her story. Her story is my story and our story. Her journey is a part of our shared history, one that has set the tone for the work we continue to do in the name of social justice, freedom, and democracy," Mabee said.
Kirkland once said, "I left Mississippi a scared little girl. I'm not scared anymore," Mabee said.
"Her courage in the face of fear and adversity serves as a really powerful reminder that even when times bring us trepidation, the narratives around us seem to work against the ultimate good of humanity," she said. "We do not need to be fearful. We are not going to move forward in fear because we stand on the shoulders of those before us, like Dr. King, like my great-grandmother, [and] like so many of our own ancestors that paved the way for us to continue to fight for our future with no fear."
Following the event, attendees participated in several volunteer opportunities to give back to the community.
"It's truly incredible to see so many of you here with us today. I just want to note that King's legacy is not limited to just volunteering on this one day. It's about embedding the values of selfless service, community building, and justice into the everyday fabric of our lives," said Erica Barreto, student coordinator for diversity programs and belonging.
There were four volunteer initiatives: crafting Valentine's Day cards for Hillcrest residents, office organization with Western Mass Labor Action, cleaning the Harvest Table (a local food pantry and meal site), and sorting clothing and toy donations with the Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center, in partnership with Berkshire United Way.
"I have always thought how grateful I have been that so many people across this country, on a national level, at regional levels, at local levels, in people's homes, that they have committed to make sure that Martin Luther King Junior Day is not a day off, but it's a day on," Berkshire Community College President Ellen Kennedy said in welcoming participants to the college-sponsored day of service at United Methodist Church.
"And we at Berkshire Community College have really embraced that for a very long time and have encouraged our students, our faculty, our staff, our alumni, our boards, everyone to think about ways that they can commit to this community and to all of the people that make up this community that we care so much about."
In North Adams, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts President James Birge welcomed North County residents to a luncheon at college's Venable Hall, after they had spent the morning volunteering at Roots Teen Center, No Paws Left Behind and Louison House, weatherizing, working at food collection sites, delivering meals and creating blankets, mittens and friendship bracelets for donations.
King's legacy "is about justice and peace, and in particular, service, community service, public service, the sense of being together and being great together and finding ways to express the things that are important to each of us about our community right here," said Birge.
"The light of justice extinguishes the darkness of injustice. Each one of us carries that beam of light and shines it in all of the terrible corners of the world and our community to do good work. It changes our lives individually because of the commitments we make to one another and to our community, but it changes our community as well."
He pointed to John F. Kennedy's aphorism that a "rising tide lifts all boats." "We're all rising up together because of the commitment from each of you," he said.
While volunteers dined on wings and pizza, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Committee presented the Peacemaker Award to Gina Coleman. The award is given annually to a person who has substantially contributed to building peace, community and racial equity in the Berkshires.
Coleman is the new director of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at the Brien Center, where she provides training to local organizations on addressing bias and bigotry. She serves on a number of educational boards and committees, organizes the annual Juneteenth Celebration Concert and was a founding member of the Williamstown Diversity, Inclusion, and Racial Equity Committee.
A musician, she's a founder of the Misty Blues and also the head coach for the women's rugby team at her alma mater, Williams College, and her team participated in Monday's volunteer activities. She gave a shout out to the "lovely Dalton boy" (husband Michael Mongue) she met after graduating college "for keeping me here and allowing me to to serve this community that I care about so deeply."
"Before I found out that I was receiving this award, last week I was at the National Museum of Civil Rights in Memphis," said Coleman. "I was standing outside of the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King passed, and it was a very moving moment, and then to find out literally hours later that I was receiving this award, there's, there's something just magical about that.
"And I thank everyone in this room, and I vow to continue to serve this community, because it's my home."
Committee member Kathy Keeser called Coleman "awesome" and presented her with a proclamation from the House of Representatives on behalf of state Rep. John Barrett III.
MCLA's Andre Lynch, vice provost for institutional equity and belonging, said King envisioned his "beloved community" as a place where divisions are replaced "by connections rooted in belonging and understanding."
He had everyone at their lunch tables to turn to their neighbors and say, "I'm not like you and I love that."
"In building this community that we've so expertly done today, you have to understand that the way to maintain that community is by prioritizing service over self-interest, empathy over apathy, and hope over despair," Lynch said. "So with that, we know that the work we've done today cannot be a one-day event."
In Pittsfield, Mabee told the audience to move forward with love, courage, and an unshakable commitment to a better future for our civil rights.
"Civil rights are not just about a single group of the country. It belongs to everyone. The fight for civil rights is not just history. It is happening right now, which is why this day of service is so important," she said, listing rights including voting, public education, and freedom of religion.
"They're the backbone of our democracy. They're the promise that each of us has a fair chance to live, thrive, and contribute to society. Dr. King understood this deeply. He was not just a key figure in the civil rights movement," she said.
"It is often daunting and in times of uncertainty, it can feel as though the challenges before us are far too great but as Dr. King once said, we must accept finite disappointment to never lose infinite hope."
Staff writers Brittany Polito and Tammy Daniels contributed to this report.
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