The Town of West Hartford will hold its annual Martin Luther King Day celebration on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 at Town Hall, and will also present the inaugural Earl Exum Servant Leader award.

Courtesy images

Submitted

The community is invited to the 29th annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the West Hartford town hall auditorium, 50 South Main Street, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Each year, the event pays tribute to Dr. King’s ideals and vision and grows more popular and inspiring. The celebration is free and open to people of all ages.

West Hartford’s 2025 event centers on Dr. King’s message about resiliency. “If you can’t fly, then run; if you can’t run, then walk; if you can’t walk, then crawl; but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” View the speech here. A video capturing community leaders reflecting on the 2025 theme will be featured during the event.

This year’s keynote speaker is John Mills, a trained genealogist, independent scholar, a descendant of the enslaved, and president of the Alex Breanne Corporation, a Connecticut-based nonprofit. The Alex Breanne Corporation focuses on research, interrogation, and presentation of lesser-known stories representing the life experiences of the American enslaved, presented from an African American perspective. Mills unearths little-known people, intending to inject them into the landscape of the communities where they lived, worked, or died. Mills’ goal is to remember the forgotten, as well as to apply critical thinking to our history as a means to find solutions to the many ripple effects today.

The first Earl Exum Servant Leader Award will be announced during the MLK celebration.

“This is a way for West Hartford to honor and remember our friend Earl Exum and spotlight an individual who is serving others in our community,” said Adrienne Billings-Smith, West Hartford’s equity officer and Title VI coordinator and member of the MLK planning committee.

The MLK committee has selected Mark Walker from a field of nominations of dedicated community members to be the first recipient of the Earl Exum Servant Leader Award.

Retired after nearly 40 years in the banking industry, Walker is the pastor with Open Arms Christian Ministries and a youth sports coach with On The Court. He has held leadership positions on many civic and charitable organization boards, including The Mercy Community, where he is currently the chair, the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce, the Foundation for West Hartford Public Schools, West Hartford Public Television (West Hartford Community Interactive), and the Smith School PTO.

Christine Looby, executive director of The Mercy Community of McAuley, said in her nomination, “He embraces and advances our mission to serve as a ‘compassionate and transforming healing presence’ adhering to core values of reverence, commitment to those experiencing poverty, safety, justice, stewardship, and integrity. Mark’s gentle guidance, firm convictions, and genuine desire to leave his community better than he found it makes him an ideal candidate for the Earl Exum Servant Leader Award.”

The 2024 MLK celebration also includes a welcome from Mayor Shari Cantor, an invocation by Rev. Dr. Adam Robersmith of the Universalist Church of West Hartford, and insights from the nation’s capital from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. West Hartford Board of Education member LaToya Yagaloff will serve as master of ceremonies.

Each year, two students from public high schools are chosen to give their perspectives on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This year, Asha Comiso of Conard High School and Maxwell St. Arromand of Hall High School were selected.

The event features musical performances by the Conard High School Jazz Combo, Bristow Middle School’s Voices of Bristow, and Hall High School’s Choraliers.

Kaleea Alston-Griffin, president of the West Hartford African American Social & Cultural Organization, one of the sponsoring organizations, will introduce the keynote speaker.

Student artwork, essays, and poems from West Hartford elementary schools will also be displayed. The event will kick off with a video capturing West Hartford Public Schools elementary students creating MLK art projects.

Following the event, Conard High School junior Julian Watson will lead an interpretive discussion on one of the images in the MLK mural on the library wall. Interested participants should meet on the plaza near the Cinépolis movie theater.

Sponsors of this event include the West Hartford African American Social & Cultural Organization (WHAASCO), the Town of West Hartford, West Hartford Public Schools, Hidden History, and Concerned Parents of Color of West Hartford.  West Hartford Community Interactive will air the event live on Comcast Channel 5, Frontier 6098, and on their YouTube channel, https://youtube.com/live/IySwIUQTUCE.

Special thanks to Nothing Bundt Cakes for providing refereshments.

Free parking is available in the Town Hall lot.

For more information, contact Renée McCue, Public Relations Specialist, Town of West Hartford, at 860-561-7521 or [email protected].

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.