Hastings Honors Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Published on Monday, 20 January 2014
- Written by Toni Ann Berardo
This morning, many community members throughout the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson came together to honor the memory and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s spirit, message and humanitarian work with the 2nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast.
The breakfast kicked off at 9:30am at the James Harmon Community Center with some words of thanksgiving by Herbert Browne and opening remarks from one the event's coordinators, Merle Sternberg. Breakfast was provided by the Dobbs Ferry Diner and Hastings Own Bagels and was served by Emanuel and Ariel Gutman and their volunteer team.
During the breakfast, Professor Randolph McLaughlin served as they Keynote Speaker. Prof. McLaughlin, who is a civil rights lawyer, graduated from Harvard Law School in 1978. In addition to his many major law suits, the first of which was against the Chattanooga branch of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Prof. McLaughlin has been teaching at the Pace University Law School since 1988 and was honored as the Outstanding Professor of the Year in 1992. In 1997, he became the director of the Pace University Law School's first Social Justice Center, which allows staff to participate in human rights issues, some including racial and gender discrimination, housing discrimination, police misconduct and voting rights violations. Prof. McLaughlin now practices law at Newman Ferrara LLP in New York City.
Starting off his speech, Prof. McLaughlin eloquently put into prospective that although Dr. King famously had a dream, "King was not a dreamer, he was an activist!" During Prof. McLaughlin's keynote, he recalled the many similarities and differences between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela, one of which he sites as their quest for "rights for all", stating that "it's not just about taking down the signs, the challenge is equality", a strong message in Dr. King's last book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? The professor also reminded us that MLK's work was not only against racial discrimination, but expanded to other civil rights matters, opposition to the Vietnam War, and the fight against poverty.
The breakfast also featured a screening of Voice of America's The King Legacy - Marching Forward, a documentary which "Fifty years after The March on Washington and Rev. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, VOA looks at the life and legacy of the civil rights leader."
Next was the honoring of this year's recipient of the 2014 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award, Mrs. Suzanne Smith. Suzanne was presented and honored with words of kindness from Mayor Swiderski and friend, Ms. Madge Scott. Although Suzanne is a native to Ohio, she has made her home and permanent mark in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. In addition to raising her children in our little town, she has served as the President of the local League of Women Voters, was a founder of FISH (Friends in Service Helping), served as village trustee for six years starting in 1990, the President of the Hastings Historical Society, and currently serves as the Chair of the Village Beautification Committee. Mrs. Smith also directed the renovation of the Observatory Cottage and Draper Park and founded and chaired the Hastings Farmers Market, one of my personal favorite assets to our vivacious village!
One of Mrs. Smith's most remarkable, although they all are, achievements has been her seat as Chair of the Performance Improvement Committee at St. John's Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, New York as well as her work to bring affordable housing to Hastings. She has overseen the creation of eighteen affordable units and seventeen more have already been approved and will be constructed in the future, making us one of the leaders of affordable housing in Westchester County. All in all, Suzanne Smith has proven over and over again how much of an irreplaceable asset she is to our community's past, present and future.
The breakfast also honored four of our young elementary and middle school community members who each received an individual award for their essays on what the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. meant to them. Winners included Hillside Elementary School fourth grader, Melina Bakopoulou, and Farragut Middle School student, Daivene Vavra. Runner ups included middle school students Rebecca Capurso and Danny Campbell. All of the winners received gift certificates and also graced the audience with a reading of their award winning essays.
The breakfast committee included: Herbert Browne, Stephen Frankel, Ariel, Emanuel and Marilyn Gutman, Madge Scott, Genevieve Spruill, Gerald and Merle Sternberg and Mayor Peter Swiderski. Their tireless work and devotion made this breakfast into a wonderful experience for everyone who attended.
Take some time to click through our pictures and see some highlights from the event!