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Watertown Group Making Banners Celebrating Civil Rights for Unity Breakfast

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Members of Sunrise Watertown with one of the banners made for the 2021 Watertown Unity Breakfast. They invite others to make their own banners. The following announcement was provided by Sunrise Watertown:

The past three Sundays, Sunrise Watertown, Uplift Watertown, and the Kingian Response Team partnered to create art for the upcoming Unity Breakfast (January 18, 2021). At the event, they painted banners with quotes from past and present civil rights activists that will be used to decorate the town in January as part of their #readthestreets campaign. 

“The Kingian Response Team was formed to develop a united local response to the murder of George Floyd. Over the past few months, this team has developed and proposed an antiracist Listen-Learn-Grow-Act pledge for both individuals and institutions in our town, in particular for our educational and public safety institutions,” writes Ruth Henry, founder of the Kinging Response Team and teacher at Watertown Middle School.

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Watertown Unity Breakfast Going Virtual in 2021

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The following information was provided by the Unity Breakfast Planning Committee:

Watertown will celebrate its 21st annual Unity Breakfast on January 18, 2021 – Martin Luther King Day. For the past 20 years, the World in Watertown event has brought together hundreds of people at for a hearty breakfast and program that celebrates and honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his commitment to racial justice. This year, however, the Unity Breakfast will be different – it will be a virtual event presented in partnership with Watertown Cable Access Corp (WCA-TV). It will be streamed at 10:00 am on January 18, 2021 (MLK Day), on the 2021 Unity Breakfast website and the WCA-TV FaceBook page, and simultaneously broadcast by WCA-TV on channels 9 (Comcast) and 3 (RCN). The program will be recorded so that it will also be available for subsequent on-demand viewing.

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Nominations Wanted for Watertown’s Annual Unity Award

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A mural created by Watertown High School students for the 20th annual Unity Breakfast. The Unity Award Committee seeks nominations for the honor handed out at Watertown’s Unity Breakfast, held each year on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The committee sent out the following letter:

Dear Members of the Watertown Community,

We are pleased to announce that we are actively seeking nominees for this year’s World in Watertown Unity Award. The Unity Award is given each year at Watertown’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Unity Breakfast to honor individuals or groups who are making significant contributions to civic life in Watertown. In the spirit of this year’s Unity Breakfast theme, “Beyond Diversity to Equity,” we seek to honor community members who are furthering Dr. King’s vision of racial, social and economic justice in concrete ways.

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Watertown’s Effort to Bring MLK’s Teachings to Schools Honored at Unity Breakfast

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The Watertown High six students who received the Unity Award for their work spreading Kingian Non-violence teachings to WHS. Pictured from left, Fred Laboissiere, Tino Themelis, Eva Henry, Claire abian, Catherine Fabian and Shivani Sharma. The people who brought the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. to the Watertown schools and the community came together, and were honored during the the 20th annual Watertown Unity Breakfast on Monday. The annual celebration on Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been put on by the World in Watertown for two decades, and at the 2020 breakfast the local efforts to teach the principles of Kingian Non-violence in town were at the forefront. The keynote speaker was one of those who trained Watertown teachers, students and police about applying King’s non-violence teachings today, and the Unity Award went to six students who spread MLK’s teachings to Watertown High School.

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Watertown Students Make Art Inspired by MLK for Monday’s Unity Breakfast

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Artwork created by Lowell School students. Ms. Jaclyn Zywocinski & Ms. Christine Talamas and their kindergarten & 1st grade students at the J.R. Lowell Elementary School created the centerpiece art for the annual Unity Breakfast while learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Students talked about how it doesn’t matter what the color your skin is… we are all so special, different and kind.  And all hands, even small ones, can help the world! The Unity Breakfast will take place on Monday, Jan. 20.

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Watertown Will Celebrate 20th Unity Breakfast in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

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The following information was provided by World in Watertown:

Watertown will celebrate its 20th Unity Breakfast to remember Martin Luther King Jr. at 8:30 a.m., Jan. 20 at the Hellenic Cultural Center, 25 Bigelow Ave., Watertown. The breakfast has become a Watertown tradition, drawing over 400 guests. This year’s honorary host will be Deanne Galdston, superintendent of the Watertown Public Schools. The keynote speaker is Jonathan Lewis, senior level Kingian Nonviolence trainer, Positive Peace Warrior Network.

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Minister of First Parish Bidding Church, Watertown Farewell

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Mark Harris, minister of the First Parish Church of Watertown, received the 2019 Unity Award. He helped start the event, and will be retiring from the church later this year. After 23 years, the Rev. Mark Harris will leave Watertown’s First Parish Church Unitarian Universalist where he made his mark with his congregation and the wider community. Harris’ time as minister of First Parish Church runs through the end of July, but he gave his last sermon in early June. In September, he and his wife, Andrea Greenwood, will move to Maine.

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A Unity Breakfast Full of Goodbyes & Challenges to Fight for MLK’s Vision

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Rahsaan Hall gave the keynote address at the 2019 Unity Breakfast. He is the director of the ACLU of Massachusetts’ Racial Justice Program. The 19th annual Watertown Unity Breakfast not only celebrated the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., on Monday, but also paid tribute to two people who have been regulars at the event as they say farewell. Despite the frigid and icy conditions on MLK Day 2019, the Hellenic Cultural Center was packed for the event presented by World in Watertown. Those in attendance heard from a member of the ACLU of Massachusetts about how the fight against racisms not over, and also were addressed — perhaps for the last time — by Rev. Mark Harris, minister of First Parish of Watertown, and Watertown Police Officer Harold “Tony” Physic.