Mayor Marcia Leclerc Encourages to Be Stronger Advocates for our Diversity Community
Each year, on the third Monday of January, we come together to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—and we will do so again on January 18th. Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to advocating for a simple, but extremely powerful dream—for a world with equality and justice for all. While some progress has been made since Dr. King shared his dream with 250,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, this past year served as a strong reminder for our nation that a significant amount of work still needs to be done toward the realization of this dream.
It's hard to forget last year’s events that brought renewed attention to systemic racism in our country and exposed long-standing racial inequities in every aspect of our society. We have all been emotionally impacted by the injustices that have proven time and time again that there is a dire need for a major positive change, and that we have failed collectively to practice what Reverend King preached.
While last year brought many challenges with it, it taught us to accept our flaws and step on the path of righting the past and setting a strong foundation for the future. Together with the Town Council, we were determined to hear out as many voices as possible in our community to better understand individual experiences within our Town as part of our regular public forums on racial equity, and we continue to hold meetings with local, state and community partners to bring about a positive change and address inequities that led us here. In the spirit of MLK Day, please remember that as a nation and a community, we are much stronger when we come together and work collectively on making the world a better place—a place accepting of all regardless of their race, gender, color of their skin, or nationality, celebrating our differences as well as our commonalities.
As we reflect upon the life and work of a man who brought hope and healing to our nation, I encourage you to continue to set a goal of being stronger advocates for our diverse community and work every day to ensure everyone is treated fairly and equally.