'Racism hurts everyone'
Dr. Aminah Pilgrim looks back at a tainted childhood and forward to a world of kindness and compassion
FALL RIVER — Guests who attended the 15th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast held on Monday at Bristol Community College were urged to honor the late civil rights leader’s legacy by promoting unity and striving to make the world a better place where everyone can co-exist in peace and harmony.
Civic leaders, members of the college community, interfaith leaders and area citizens gathered for the program that included breakfast, musical selections provided by Music One, a trio of motivational female vocalists based in Providence, speakers and awards presentations. The invocation was delivered by Rev. Darryl Malden of the Bethel AME Church in Fall River; the closing prayer was conducted by Rabbi Mark Elber and Cantor Shoshana Brown of Temple Beth El, also in Fall River.
In her keynote address, Dr. Aminah Pilgrim, assistant professor of Africana Studies at UMass Boston, told the audience about the trauma she experienced as a child that resulted from acts of overt racism and bullying. She painfully recalled being taunted and ostracized by her peers.
Pilgrim, who grew up in Onset and Wareham, traces her ancestry to Cape Verde and Barbados.
“I was made to feel inferior,” she recalled, adding that her father introduced her to King and his work on behalf of social justice and equal rights.
The educator emphasized that King’s powerful message gave her comfort and hope. Pilgrim later studied in the South, where she was embraced by many mentors who were active in the civil rights movement.
“Racism hurts everyone,” she told the audience, adding that society does not improve when individuals fail to build bridges and reach out to each other.
“He loved us,” Pilgrim said of the slain Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. “He loved his country so much that he gave his life for us.”
Pilgrim urged the audience to honor King’s legacy by “unlearning what we have learned” and to always treat others with kindness and compassion.
“We need to see with new eyes and listen with new ears,” she said.
During the program, New Bedford resident Shelly Correia was honored as BCC’s 2015 Distinguished African American Alumna. She is the executive director of Harbour House, a family shelter, and remains active in the community through her active support of the Cape Verdean Association, an organization that provides a variety of social, educational and cultural to Cape Verdean immigrants, Americans of Cape Verdean descent and other members of the community.
“This college changes lives in the spirit of Dr. King,” Correia shared, recalling the nuturing offered by many BCC professors and staff members who helped her to succeed.
“I am returning the gifts of opportunity,” she added.
Other program speakers included College President John Sbrega, U.S. Rep William Keating and Fall River Mayor Samuel Sutter.
“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem,” Keating said, quoting the late political activist Eldridge Cleaver. “Get involved and keep Dr. King’s message of freedom alive.”
Fall River resident Carolyn Burton said she’s attended the annual breakfast every year for the past decade to honor King and the multitude of others who sacrificed their lives while serving in the military.
“It’s in honor of all caring people,” she said. “He was the most courageous of all.”
Burton described the fallen civil rights leader’s pursuit of justice and equality through non-violence as an example of “true courage.”
Bristol Community College will offer a free five-week course entitled Readings of Martin Luther King Jr., Mondays, March 23 and 30, April 6 and 13, and Wednesday, April 22, 6:30-9 p.m. at the Elsbree Street campus. For more information or to register, call (508) 678-2811, ext. 2590.