Honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Events with the Catholic Cluster of Harlem, Apollo Theater, and Campaign to Close Rikers!
As communities gathered this past weekend to celebrate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Interfaith Center staff joined faith and civic leaders to promote social action, and racial justice.
Catholic Cluster of Harlem Interfaith Service
On January 12th, the Catholic Cluster of Harlem, formerly the Central Harlem Catholic Deanery, hosted an interfaith prayer in service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at St. Joseph of the Holy Family Catholic Church. It is the cluster’s first interfaith MLK service since the pandemic and a program supported by our former Director of Community Partnerships, Dr. Sarah Sayeed.
The program centered around the theme “Is the Dreamed Deferred? What Would Dr. King Say in 2024?” Faith leaders of various traditions revisited themes of social action in King’s honor, touching on how critical it is to reaffirm our commitment to justice in light of the political turmoil and disagreement. Keynote speaker, Rev. Al Taylor – Assemblymember of District 71 – delivered a passionate sermon exploring ideas such as creative sacrifice, redemption, and walking together in moments of struggle.
Afterwards, Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid of Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, spoke of Islamic principles related to King’s legacy. He shared grief of the violence of the Middle East, but reemphasized a commitment to justice – a precursor for peace. In his speech, he also shared the Micah Institute’s statement: “A Season and Time for Every Matter Under Heaven: A Multi-Faith Call to Healing and Consolation.” Faith leaders and faith-based organizations are encouraged to sign and share the statement to reaffirm NYC’s commitment to mitigating hate crimes and bias incidents.
The Interfaith Center of New York is honored to be chosen as the recipient of Friday night’s collection. This donation will support our work towards social change and justice, contributing a small part towards Dr. King’s dream.
Apollo Theater “MLK Young Changemakers: The Beloved Community” Event
On January 15th, the Apollo Theater welcomed young people to an event titled “MLK Young Changemakers: The Beloved Community” to celebrate the intersection of faith and activism in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and in New York City today. The event centered around panel discussions on climate change, global migration, and voting rites all of which featured emerging activists and community leaders.
The Interfaith Center’s Migrant Shelter and Immigration consultant, Brennan Brink, was honored to join Rana Abdelhamid and moderator Phil Taitt to discuss the asylum seeker crisis and how New York immigrant and faith communities have stepped up to support the newest New Yorkers. While the narrative around asylum seekers in New York often focuses on the challenges of this moment, the panel attempted to shift the narrative – offering inspiration about the work already being done.
Since December of 2022, the Interfaith Center has partnered with houses of worship who provide a variety of essential services to asylum seekers: food, shelter, legal assistance, and more. Hear Brennan’s response to the importance of this work below and find out how you can support asylum seekers by visiting the Interfaith Center’s volunteer opportunity page.
The event was closed with a lecture by Dr. Nyle Fort on the life of Dr. King. He emphasized that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is too often portrayed solely as a common sense advocate for racial reform. Dr. Fort asked the audience to consider how Dr. King consistently took radical action against racism, economic inequality, and war. In order to imagine the world Dr. King fought for, we must continue the work to combat racial injustice, economic inequality, and government failings.
Care Not Criminalization
In the legacy of Dr. King, we encourage you to learn more about our contributions to the Campaign to Close Rikers. Rikers remains a notorious mark of injustice and inhumanity in our city; because of its troubling history, a law was signed in 2019 requiring the jail be closed by 2027. The deadline has been repeatedly threatened and we urge you and your networks to join us ensuring that the city government adheres to an appropriate timeline.
One way to support this work is by attending our upcoming, “Care Not Criminalization” rally next Wednesday January 24th at the Mayor's State of the City address, in collaboration with Communities United for Police Reform, The People's Plan, and Youth Represent. See you there!
