Jan. 20-22—POULTNEY— Green Mountain College will begin the spring semester with a series of events aimed to honor the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Events planned are listed below.
Soul Food Sunday Gathering will be held Sunday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. in The Gorge in Withey Hall on Green Mountain College Campus. The Rutland Area NAACP is hosting its Soul Food Sunday gathering at Green Mountain College as a part of our Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day celebration. All are invited to gather and connect with neighbors and friends over food. This community event is free; consider bringing a food dish to share with other attendees. (Please no alcohol; this a family friendly event.)
A Co-op work party will be held Monday, Jan. 21 at Stone Valley Community Market, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Share skills, tools, knowledge of building and renovations, or just ability to push a broom and cheer folks on in a work day to reopen the Co-op. The building is in need of the following materials (if you happen to have any, please bring them along): spray foam, wood trim, pine boards, gloss paint for kitchen area, wall repair supplies, painting supplies, Poultney dump garbage bags, clear bins for storing back stock, and plumbing tape.
Also on Monday, Jan. 21, join the March Down Main Street, Poultney, starting at Richardson Building, Green Mountain College campus. The GMC community has planned a march down Main Street in Poultney in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Boyrereau Brinch, also known as Jeffrey Brace, a Revolutionary veteran, author and a well respected Abolitionist. The march will begin at the Jeffrey Brace plaque in the Richardson Building on the Green Mountain College Campus at 10 a.m. and end at the Jeffrey Brace historical marker in East Poultney. Participants in the march are strongly encouraged to dress for winter weather. The Jeffrey Brace historical marker is one of many stops along the Vermont African American Heritage Trail, a guide that explores the stories of African Americans throughout Vermont by way of tours, films, exhibits, cultural sites and museums. Upon arriving at the marker, an excerpt from Brace’s memoir, “The Blind African Slave,” will be read. Vans will accompany the march for those that may not be able to walk the full distance.
On Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m., join the free documentary screening of “Divided by Diversity” followed by a Q & A discussion with a panel of film participants and filmmaker Duane Carleton.
In 2010, five student athletes from the Bronx, were accepted to attend a private Catholic school in Vermont. A school in desperate need of students and five teens in search of an opportunity to escape one of the worst crime areas in New York should have been a perfect match. Instead, the youths were met with resistance and conjecture that they had been recruited to prop up a failing basketball program. Feelings of entitlement and resentment, fueled by social media and helicopter parenting, grew to a xenophobic frenzy. “Divided by Diversity” tells the story of how these young men, along with their coaches, teammates and supporters, endured physical and verbal attacks as well as covert attempts to have them returned to New York. It also reveals many of the modern elements that are contributing to racial tension nationwide.
For more information, visit greenmtn.edu.
