News Brief

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Bunker Hill Community College | Office of the President

Dear BHCC Community, 

On Monday, January 16, we observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  For all of us, it will be a day of service, reflection, and rededication to the values of universal equality, dignity, and love that animated Dr. King’s work, and that serve as a spark and inspiration to our own. 

This year’s holiday brings a very special event in the life of our city: This Friday, January 13, at 1 p.m., Boston’s new King memorial, “The Embrace” will be publicly unveiled on the Boston Common. Embrace Boston, the group that created this amazing monument, has invited the BHCC community to attend, and I hope all of you will bear witness to this historic moment in Boston.  

At the heart of The Embrace is love—an idea central to King’s work and his vision.  The memorial itself depicts the embrace of Dr. King and his wife Coretta, but the love it symbolizes extends to the human family.  I hope for all of us, this holiday is a reminder of the power of universal understanding and love for those all around us.

Dr. King was a transformational figure and extraordinary leader.  He was a revolutionary whose vision echoes through the ages.  His was not only the vision of harmonious possibility that we hear in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech; it was also one that pointed the way to universal human dignity and that sought to destroy the systems and structures that stand in its way. 

Speaking at New York’s Riverside Church in 1967, King said: “When machines and computers, profit and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.  True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial.  It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”  So many lifetimes later, those edifices of inequality, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are still with us, and Dr. King’s revolution of values is still unfinished. 

BHCC honors Martin Luther King, Jr. with several events beginning on Friday and extending into February.  A full listing of events is available at bhcc.edu/mlkday, including: 

  • The unveiling of Boston’s new King memorial, “The Embrace,” on Friday, January 13 at 1 p.m. 
  • An online discussion of King’s seminal Letter from a Birmingham Jail facilitated by Dr. George Walters-Sleyon on Tuesday, January 24 at 6 p.m. 
  • An examination of the life of MLK advisor Bayard Rustin, led online by Lee Santos Silva, Director of BHCC’s Center for Equity and Cultural Wealth on Monday, January 30 at 6 p.m. 

At Bunker Hill Community College, we reaffirm our commitment to a vibrant and safe teaching and learning environment, where diversity, equity, and inclusion are cherished.  Please join me to honor the legacy of Dr. King by reflecting on progress and work still to be done on social and economic equity, and sustainability. 

Best wishes, 

Pam
Pam Y. Eddinger, Ph.D. 
President 
Bunker Hill Community College