Yesterday I went to Amherst for the 25th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast. This event, held at the middle school, was started by a local black woman to raise money for scholarships for African American graduating high school seniors. I think they said they've given money to 68 students over the years. I went for the first time last year with some other UUs, and was very impressed by the speeches made by local dignitaries and the scholarship winners themselves. I was also rather horrified to see that in the program, a lot of other churches and the Jewish Community Association had big ads (one source of financial support for the scholarships), but my UU had NEVER placed an ad, even though we've always had our folks attend. I told the board last year that we should place an ad this year. However, I wasn't at December's board meeting to raise this issue again. So last week I cobbed together a 1/4 page ad for our UU and paid for it myself (a business-card-sized ad was $40, but you could go up to a 1/4 page for only $20 more! Seemed worth it to me.) I might be partially reimbursed later, but if I'm not, it's no big deal. Betsy from our UU (who always attends) told me she and her husband might help pay for it too.
I'd say the audience was half POC and half white. The MC was white, and the panel of speakers was all POC. With the inauguration pending, there was of course a lot of talk about Obama and hope and change and commitment and promise -- that this is a man who will really listen to us, and we have to prepare ourselves to work hard WITH him, because he can't do it all himself. There was one woman who teaches women's studies who also spoke about how great it is to see a couple who respect each other and see each other as equals and a unit -- and that historically (because of slavery and other factors), this has not been the experience of most black families. It was very moving.
I arrived just before the breakfast itself at 9 a.m. (Doors opened at 8:30 a.m. for coffee and mingling.) Our friend Stan was the MC, and he apologized to the audience during the breakfast itself (the speeches and awards were afterward in the auditorium) for some "delays" that I hadn't known anything about. It turns out it was so cold, some pipes had burst. I don't know if this was in the kitchen or if it affected the heating system. Everything seemed fine by the time I got there. (Going through a hallway to the auditorium, though, there was a VERY VERY cold spot. There was even ice on the floor!)
Michael B., who was the Early Transition Program coordinator last year at the high school (this was the program that let Samurai spend her senior year at the community college) was there, and afterward I told him how Samurai was doing, and that she credits her success fall semester to her "head start" on college work through ETP. He was pleased to hear that. (She had been posting before the winter break how so many of the freshmen had been freaking out about studying for finals, and she was not -- because she'd experienced college final exams already.)
And how cold was it?
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