A TRUE REVOLUTION OF VALUES

To honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK), please join us for a day of activities on Monday, January 16, 2017 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland, ME for the NAACP Portland Branch MLK Holiday Observance. Traditionally, this observance brings hundreds of people from across the state together, making it one of the largest multicultural events held throughout the year.

The day starts with a youth summit hosted by the Martin Luther King Jr. Fellows, a youth leadership organization with a mission to advance racial equity and social justice in the Greater Portland area. Scheduled to take place from 9am - 12 pm, attendees will explore the goals of the My Brother's Keeper Initiative launched by President Obama and discuss efforts to implement this locally. This is a free event with registration required via Eventbrite (King Fellows Youth Summit).

Later in the day, from 2 - 4 p.m., families are encouraged to join us for our MLK Day Family Celebration hosted by Goodwill of Northern New England, One Tree Wholistic Learning Center and Portland Housing Authority. Free and open to the public. For more information, please email jenifer.craven@americorpsalums.org

The Observance ends with a dinner celebration from 6 - 8 p.m. which includes live music; featured speaker Sherri Mitchell; an award presentation; and performance. It is a ticketed program suitable for those 14 years and older. Child care is available at no charge.

Please note that a reception with cash bar will precede dinner.

Our theme for the holiday observance is A True Revolution of Values. It is taken from a speech given by Dr. King on April 4, 1967, exactly one year prior to his assassination, at the Riverside Church in New York City. Considered by many as his most controversial speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence," details his opposition to the war and is built around three major points: the increase of militarism, escalating poverty and the issue of racism. Dr. King believed that only a true, radical revolution of values would interrupt the system of violence that he saw being perpetrated all over the world. We believe this is still true today.

"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We hope that you will consider joining us for this special observance.

For more information, please call (207) 553-5851.

Click here to become a NAACP Portland Maine Branch member.