'Create the beloved community': MLK Jr. Day tribute in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH — Quotes and images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lined the inside of South Church Monday, which would have been the civil rights trailblazer's 95th birthday, to honor of his life and legacy.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was marked at the historic downtown church with congregants and Seacoast citizens listening to readings of select speeches from King, hymns, and remarks from local and state political leaders. The remembrance was held only a few streets away from The Pearl, New Hampshire’s first Black-owned church and the site where King delivered a sermon in October 1952, when he was a divinity student at Boston University.

The South Church tribute from the Seacoast NAACP was preceded by a volunteer-led pancake breakfast, a tradition that began in the 1980s, was halted during the COVID-19 pandemic and revived in 2024.

“There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done in our communities … All of you are here to engage in that work, to continue to do the stuff that we need to do in order to really create the beloved community that Dr. King spoke about and wrote about,” said the Rev. Bob Thompson, president of the Seacoast NAACP. “You’ve heard about the beloved community. You know that it is a community where all of us are able to really honor who we are as God created us to be, without apology.”

Attendees flipped through program pamphlets with a black-and-white photo of King on the front overlapped by a quote from him: “We may all have come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” Children and elders read aloud snippets of King’s August 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, given at the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

“This historic speech helped galvanize the civil rights movement and brought the plight of the disenfranchised to a larger national and international audience,” said Sandi Clark Kaddy, president of the Seacoast African American Cultural Center and a Seacoast NAACP executive committee member.

In 1999, state legislators voted in favor of New Hampshire recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day, making it the last state in the nation to honor the holiday. Longtime efforts led in part by former Portsmouth assistant mayor and state legislator Jim Splaine culminated in the holiday being celebrated in the Granite State officially for the first time in January 2000.

Enslaved by George and Martha Washington, Ona Judge Staines escaped from Philadelphia to Portsmouth in 1796. After failed attempts to bring her back to the Washingtons, Judge lived as a seamstress in Greenland until her death.

These facts and local anecdotes were contrasted by reminders of recent acts of hatred in Portsmouth, including a racist, antisemitic graffiti attack on downtown buildings last February.

Racial justice advocates noted Monday that while Portsmouth is the “City of the Open Door,” discrimination exists as groups and individuals have espoused hatred in the community over the last few years.

“We should be embracing our differences, including the differences of skin and the histories tied to it,” said Portsmouth Assistant Mayor Joanna Kelley, owner of Cup of Joe Café and Bar and the event’s keynote speaker.

Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu were on hand for the tribute, as was U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Executive Council member Cinde Warmington. Speeches were also given on behalf of U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas and U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, both Democrats from the Granite State.

Expressions of kindness, according to Hassan, have to be a response to acts of hatred, such as those who pushed for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“Change, such as the Voting Rights Act, was only made possible because everyday Americans from different backgrounds stepped up and spoke out. They showed love,” Hassan said. “They showed determination and they made it clear that justice is the best expression of love that we have, but that we cannot achieve justice without also expressing that love.”

"Probably the best expression of your love is to make sure that each and every one of us has the right and the dignity to vote, to protect that right and to express our love for each other and this country by doing that,” Hassan added.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first recognized as a federal holiday in 1986.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: MLK Jr. Day tribute in Portsmouth NH honors civil rights pioneer