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Published on January 22, 2020
On Jan. 20, Dwight Bachman, public relations officer, served as guest speaker for the Windham/Willimantic Chapter of the NAACP’s celebration the birthday of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The theme for the evening at the Calvary Baptist Church in Willimantic was “The Urgency of Now.”
Bachman recapped Dr. King’s life, including a bus boycott he led in Montgomery, AL; his acclaimed “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”; his famous 1963 speech in the nation’s capital; winning the Nobel Prize for Peace; and his assassination in Memphis, TN, in 1968. Bachman said King believed that if he gave his life serving others, loving others and feeding the hungry, his living would not be in vain. Bachman quoted King: “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right, refuses to stand up for justice and refuses to take a stand for that which is true.”
Bachman asked the audience “What are you doing to become the dream that Martin spoke about? How are you using your wisdom to educate others about racism and injustice? How are you using your privilege and power to stand up for others? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has left his legacy. What will you do to leave yours?”
Bachman concluded his remarks by reading “Anyway,” by Mother Teresa, a moving passage that the late Dr. David Carter, Eastern’s fifth president, read at each Commencement ceremony:
“Dr. King said it well,” said Bachman. “‘We’ve got some difficult days ahead.’ But if we decide to ‘Do Good, anyway,’ I believe we will make Dr. King’s dream become a reality.”