THE EVENT — THE SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMITTEE — CONTACT THE PARISH. <"L'INJUSTICE N'IMPORTE OÙ EST UNE MENACE POUR LA JUSTICE PARTOUT."> AMONG EVENTS IN HONOR OF THE REVEREND DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR – A READING OF HIS FAMOUS LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM PRISON, ORGANIZED BY THE PORTLAND-BASED BT-S CENTER. IT WAS WRITTEN IN 19-63 AFTER HIS ARREST TO PROTEST AGAINST SEGREGATION. 60 YEARS LATER… MORE THAN 400 PEOPLE JOIN VIA ZOOM TO HEAR THE LETTER READ BY NEW ENGLAND DEFENDERS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE. ONE OF THE READERS WAS DUSTIN WARD, ALMOST ISLE NATIVE AND FORMER NEW GLOUCESTER SELECTMAN. DUSTIN WARD, FOUNDER, ‘IT’S TIME’ I THINK THE REASON WE WERE GOING THROUGH A RACIAL RECONSTRUCTION AND A TIME LIKE 2020 IS BECAUSE WE FELT THE SAME WAY AS DR. KING FELT IS WE CAN’T WAIT ANY MORE. AND I THINK IT WAS A SHOCK TO A LOT OF WHITE PEOPLE HERE.” WARD IS ALSO THE FOUNDER OF ‘IT’S TIME’… PROVIDING ADVOCACY AND EDUCATION ON RACIAL EQUITY AND JUSTICE IN MAINE AND AU -OF THE
Hundreds gather to read ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’
Hosted by the Portland-based BTS Center, the reading took place virtually on the day of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
Among events held in honor of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, the Portland-based BTS Center hosted one aimed at applying Dr. King’s work to the daily lives of Mainers. Hosted via Zoom, Dr King’s ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’ was read aloud by several New England racial and social justice leaders. Over four hundred participants from across the country joined the event. The letter was written by Dr. King in April 1963, after he was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, during an anti-segregation protest. Sixty years after the Letter was published, Dustin Ward, a native of Près Isle, was among those who read it aloud in its entirety. Explaining his impulse to participate, Ward said the past two years — since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing social unrest in cities across America — have felt familiar. “I think the reason we went through a racial reckoning and a time like 2020 is because we felt exactly the same way Dr. King felt, that we couldn’t wait any longer,” Ward said. “And I think that came as a shock to a lot of white people.” Ward is also the founder of It Is Time LLC, which provides education and advocacy for racial equity and justice in Maine and throughout New England. The full reading of Dr. King’s letter is posted on the BTS Center’s Facebook page.
Among events held in honor of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, the Portland-based BTS Center hosted one aimed at applying Dr. King’s work to the daily lives of Mainers.
Hosted via Zoom, Dr. King’s ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’ was read aloud by several New England racial and social justice leaders.
Over four hundred participants from across the country joined the event.
The letter was written by Dr. King in April 1963, after he was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, during an anti-segregation protest.
Sixty years after the Letter was published, Dustin Ward, a native of Près Isle, was among those who read it aloud in its entirety.
Explaining his impulse to participate, Ward said the past two years — since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing social unrest in cities across America — have felt familiar.
“I think the reason we went through a racial reckoning and a time like 2020 is because we felt exactly the same way Dr. King felt, that we couldn’t wait any longer,” Ward said. “And I think that came as a shock to a lot of white people.”
Ward is also the founder of It’s Time LLCwhich provides education and advocacy for racial equity and justice in Maine and throughout New England.
The full reading of Dr. King’s letter is posted on the BTS Centerit is The Facebook page.
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