Celebrating the legacy of MLK through collective action

In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that leads service and volunteering, with leading this effort.

Each year, City Year Boston takes on what Dr. King called one of life’s most urgent questions: ‘What are you doing for others?’ To honor his legacy, that has been preserved by the hands of Coretta Scott King, our corps takes a day ‘on.’

Dr. King dreamed of a better world and our corps served to take part in that vision through a Day of Service and a Day of Learning. Thank you to everyone who took part in this day with us!

MLK Day of service at a glance:

• More than 150 volunteers from 30 businesses and organizations took part
• Projects include hallway murals, classroom resource kits, and MCAS kits for students
• 78 gallons of paint were used for murals
• T-Mobile donated $10K to the physical service event 

Quotes from the field:

‘I work with T-Mobile in the diversity and inclusion chapter for New England and we???re always looking for different events and ways to get out and give back to our community. We partner with City Year from a national level and regional level, so we???re very excited to have this opportunity to come out and be in our community. For me, it’s a win-win. I get to go out and do some service, be with the people I work with and bring my kids with me too!’

Janeen Russell Diversity and inclusion council T-Mobile

View more photos from the event through our gallery here.

MLK Day of learning at a glance:

• City Year Boston AmeriCorps members engaged with Dr. King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail‘
• Primary source designed the learning day for our corps
• Dr. Leigh Patel was our keynote speaker, diving into the racialization of the school system
• Community partners for the day included Mass Leap, Mass Audubon, and BPS social workers
• Learning and development topics covered ranged from racialization in schools to encouraging nature inquiry

Quotes from the field:

‘I enjoyed learning how to communicate empathetically in the workplace.’

Racehl D’Onfro, AmeriCorps member, The English High School

‘It was inspiring to be reminded that young people are vital players in any social movement.’

Molly Brooks, AmeriCorps Team Leader, Wellington Management team at Trotter Innovation School