Today is Saturday, January 11. Monday, January 13 starts Mahu Kumbh Mela in India. The Hindu sacred event will be the worls’s largest gathering of humanity. Tuesday, January 14 is the Hindu festival, Pongal. A harvest festival thanking the Sun God for the agricultural abundance. January 14 is also Orthodox Christian and Buddhist, Mahayana New Year.
Quote of the Week: “Choose people who lift you up.” Michelle Obama, January 17, 1964 – present. American First Lady and author.
Featured Civil Rights Activist/Abolitionist/Pioneer for this week: Michelle Obama, January 17, 1964 – present. American First Lady and author
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michelle-Obama
EVENTS
1. Consider attending the United Church of Pittsford’s 2025 MLK Living the Dream Series; 7:00 PM, Wednesday, January 8, 15, 22, 29 and February 2. The series is presented by Pittsford CommUNITY and its sponsors and hosted by the United Church of Pittsford. All events are free and will be held at 123 S. Main St., Pittsford. Free parking in the lot off Sunset.
For more information, visit https://pittsfordcommunity.org/
2. Laurie Mahoney shares information on the ‘Build a Better Rochester: Workshop on Advocating for Inclusive Housing RMAPI, EJC, OLH and Reconnect Rochester” at St. John Fisher on Tuesday, January 14 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM presented by Our Local History. See below for details and to register.
3. Action for a Better Community (ABC) will hold the 2nd session of it’s 2025 Signature Conference on January 16th (virtual) and January 23rd, In-person Awards Breakfast. ABC is celebrating 60 years of “Empowering Communities and Inspiring Change”. Here are the program and presentation details as well as sponsorship opportunities.
4. Lliz Brown shares information on a SURJ program ‘Our Work in the Days Ahead’ with Dr. Angela Davis on Thursday, January 16 at 8:00 PM. See flyer below for details and to register.
5. ROC the Future Alliance is excited to announce our 12th Annual State of Our Children Address & Report Card Release on Friday, January 17, 2025, at Harro East Ballroom, 155 N. Chestnut Street, Rochester, NY 14604. See below for details.
6. Melinda shares that Charter Champions is hosting a program on Saturday, January 18th 1-3pm (Doors open at 12:30) at Mt Olivat Church, 141 Adams St., Rochester NY 14608. This is a free event featuring Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump. The interplay between education and violence creates a cycle of diminished opportunities and increased vulnerability for Rochester’s youth. The time to act is now.
Register to attend this FREE event charterchampions.org/events
7. The Greater Rochester Martin Luther King Jr. Commission will be holding is annual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 20, 2025, 9:00 – 10:30 AM at the Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester 14604.
Greater Rochester Martin Luther King Jr. Commission – University of Rochester Calendar
8. Sandra Katz and Frank Staropoli share information on the Inaugurating Hope, Re-Igniting the Dream program to be held 2:30 PM Monday, January 20, 2025 at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester; 220 S Winton Rd., Rochester, NY 14610.
Martin Luther King Day is also Donald Trump’s inauguration day. The future could bring the undoing of our dreams for liberty and justice for all. Now as never before, we need to come together to ignite our human capacity to hope and dream, to unite and act, even in the face of daunting obstacles. Martin Luther King said, “If you lose hope, you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.” Here is the link to the event https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-90oRQA2nVocPHIocNQ2Q9ufi6p7-beP/view?usp=sharing The flyer is attached below.
9. Jeanne Strazzobosco invites you to the In This Moment Book Launch & Panel Discussion, Featuring City Council Member Stanley Martin & Artist Luvon Sheppard presented by George Eastman Museum Monday January 27,
6:30-8:30 PM. See promo and registration link in the two files below.
10. George Yeadon shared RIT’s Expressions of King’s Legacy featuring Deborah Archer to be held on Wednesday, January 29, 2025 from 12:00 – 2:00 PM. The program now includes a performance by Garth Fagan Dance. See flyer below.
https://t.e2ma.net/message/dhzf2l/1z5372ud
11. George Yeadon also shares that the University of Rochester will hold its annual MLK JR. Address on Thursday, January 30 at the Strong Auditorium on the River Campus featuring Giancarlo Esposito see details and registraction below.
https://events.rochester.edu/event/mlk-commemorative-address-2025
12. Melanie Russo shares that there will be a retreat-style event for Black men in Rochester, scheduled for Friday, February 28th, 2025, at the MCC Forward Center. This collaborative effort between RMAPI, the City of Rochester, Action for a Better Community and others, will empower Black men in their job search through confidence-building, strength discovery, skill enhancement, access to emerging career opportunities and more. See information below.
NEWS, HISTORY & RESOURCES:
13. Laurie Mahoney shares this article from Next City, ‘What Started as Emergency Housing Could Offer a Model for Ending Homelessness in Delaware’ See link below.
What Started as Emergency Housing Could Offer a Model for Ending Homelessness in Delaware
14. Liz Brown contiues to urge us to talk to our state representative for support of the passage of Daniel’s Law:
15. Liz Brown also shares this Op Ed by NY State Attorney General Leticia James that touches on Daniel’s Law and other related topics.
16. Here is this week’s post of Dr. Janice Gassam Asare for the Pink Elephant Newsletter. ‘The H-1B Visa Controversy: Cheap Labor, Racism And The American Divide’.
(23) The H-1B Visa Controversy: Cheap Labor, Racism And The American Divide | LinkedIn
17. Here is an article from this week’s Minority Reporter, ‘$100M Awarded for Rochester’s Inner Loop North Transformation’:
https://www.minorityreporter.net/post/100m-awarded-for-rochester-s-inner-loop-north-transformation
18. Here is the latest Interrupter newsletter from the Urban League of Rochester:
https://mailchi.mp/ulr/micro-advantage-loan-program-13859163?e=25818c1f26
19. There are 4 articles that deal with Race, Poverty, Hate or Intolerance found in D&C over the past week.
a. 8 BOOKS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT INDIGENOUS HERITAGE
b. McDonald’s backtracks on DEI policies (Another corporation “bites the dust”).
c. Kansas was first state to boot KKK (Ban adopted a century ago to prevent KKK from operating as a business).
d. Police likely took part in 1921 Tulsa massacre. (Is this a surprise?).
OPPORTUNITIES: Please share any opportunities for employment, assistance, grants, etc. that you are aware of with the community by sending them to “tcmitch1951@gmail.com”.
20. Interested in supporting Black Men in the Rochester area community? See program listed as item #12 above in the EVENTS section. Please read the following message:
Are you looking to be intentional about attracting and hiring talent from marginalized groups or those who have been historically excluded from the workforce? If so, I’d love to connect! Whether your focus is on individuals from re-entry populations, refugees, people with disabilities, or other historically excluded groups, we can work together to align your hiring strategies with available workforce development resources.
Please reach out to Melanie Russo at melanie.russo@greaterrochesterchamber.com
Let’s work together to create meaningful opportunities for all!
21. Interested in scholarships for next year’s college expenses? Check out the Scholarships that the Urban League of Rochester organizes. Applications are now open. Deadlines vary for the various scholarships. Don’t delay some deadlins are as early as March 1, 2025.
Scholarships — Urban League of Rochester (urbanleagueroc.org)
22. The Rochester Area Community Foundation (RACF) Scholarship program portal is now open. The portal will close on February 28, 2025.
Rochester Area Scholarships and Award Resources – Rochester Area Community Foundation (racf.org)
SUPPORT BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES:
23. Support the Black Community by supporting their businesses. Please share Black businesses you support and value. A good resource is “Black Owned in Rochester”
Black Owned Businesses Rochester NY Black-Owned In Rochester (blackownedinrochester.com)
24. Check out the Top House Cleaning Services in Rochester area:
If you have an item to include in the week’s sharing we need to have it by noon on Friday.
Thank you!