About a dozen masked, distanced congregants gathered at Urban Hope Refuge Church in Hartford Monday to reflect on the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., noting how the coronavirus pandemic has widened disparities in income and health care between white communities and communities of color.
“It’s so important to remember Dr. King’s legacy especially with what is going on in the world right now,” said Donna Campbell, chairwoman of the state Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission.
The annual ceremony usually takes place inside the state Capitol in Hartford. But coronavirus, and the events of Jan. 6, led the congregation to move it to the church.
“They offered to let us do it on the [Capitol] lawn this year but with the heightened risk, and the presence of congressional representatives, we decided to have it here,” Campbell said.
The Rev. Ashley “AJ” Johnson, pastor of Urban Hope Refuge Church, said: “We would not let the threat of violence stop what we had to do.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., spoke to the group and talked about how communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
“Look at the record on the pandemic,” he said. “People in Connecticut of color are twice as likely to die from this pandemic. Twice as likely to die. Businesses in communities of color are many times more likely to have gone under as a result of this pandemic.”
Blumenthal emphasized that communities of color must continue to fight for their rights, in the spirit of King and other civil rights icons.
“Let us keep alive his memory as well as the memory of great leaders like John Lewis … Elijah Cummings,” he said. “Models of excellence. Models of intellect and integrity, models of activism, standing strong, fighting peacefully for the ideals that bring us together.”
Blumenthal looked forward to the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden — “We will hopefully reverse a lot of the damage that’s been done over these past four years” — as an opportunity to heighten focus on racial justice.
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“What I’d like to see on Wednesday and every day in this administration, the power of healing, of bringing us together, but in the cause of fighting for racial justice in the great tradition of Martin Luther King,” he said. “He taught us that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
The governor usually attends the annual event, but Gov. Ned Lamont is recovering from hip replacement surgery and had to pass this year, Campbell said. The traditional bell ringing was replaced by a recording of a ringing bell.
Campbell said the traditional bestowing of awards on prominent Connecticut activists could not take place because all of this year’s honorees are in their 80s: Blanche Sumpter of Stamford, Joseph M. Ward Sr. of New Britain, Elizabeth Nkonoki-Ward of New Britain and Rev. Dr. Anthony Bennett of Bridgeport. They will be honored in a Zoom ceremony on Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. It will be shown on the YouTube page of the MLKJHC.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.