Dolores DaLuz is keynote speaker of Sunday MLK event

EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the weather forecast for Sunday, Jan. 15, a silent march planned at 2:30 p.m. starting at Barnstable Town Hall is cancelled, but the church service at 3 p.m. will be held, according to organizers.

HYANNIS — Longtime civil rights activist Dolores DaLuz said she will delve into "the light within us all" as the keynote speaker at an annual commemoration celebrating the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Cape Cod civil rights leaders.

She said the quote from King's final speech, delivered the night before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, particularly resonates with her: "But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars."

"To me, the stars that he talked about, I see them as our young people and I think they're here to save us," said DaLuz. "Because it's certainly not going to be the older people. When I look at what happened in Congress the other day and all that and the insurrection, it's not going to be old people that save us. It's going to be the young people moving ahead."

Details about the event

On Sunday, DaLuz, a founding member of the Cape Cod Branch of the NAACP and the 2017 recipient of the Mercy Otis Warren Woman of the Year Award, will speak about her decades of work for racial equity and justice, interviewed by poet and freelance writer Tamora Israel.

Israel is a former Cape Cod Times reporter.

Dolores Holden Daluz named Mercy Otis Warren Woman of the Year

The event begins at 2:30 p.m. in the Barnstable Town Hall parking lot, off the town green and behind 367 Main St., for a silent march to The Federated Church of Hyannis at 320 Main St. The service will then follow in the church at 3 p.m.

The service, held by the organizing committee for the annual Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. service, will also be live-streamed on the church's Facebook page.

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The committee includes the Cape Cod Branch of the NAACP, Cape Cod Community College, Cape Cod Council of Churches, Amplify POC, Barnstable No Place for Hate, Federated Church, Hyannis, Health Ministry, Inc., Latinx in Action and Zion Union Heritage Museum, according to a press release about the event.

Music will include traditional gospel selections performed by Mwalim and the ZYG 808 of Polyphonic Studios, pianists Roy Campbell and Robet McManus, and soloist Louise McManus.

About DaLuz

DaLuz first visited Cape Cod in 1957. She called it a "complete culture shock," when she left the rigid segregation of her native Delaware.

"My neighbors were all white, just about, and I came from a completely black neigborhood in Delaware. Everything was segregated: churches, schools, movies, beaches," said DaLuz.

At the insistence of her white neighbor, DaLuz joined a junior women's club in Hyannis, becoming its only Black member. She recalls feeling "out of place," saying "it wasn't a comfortable feeling."

"I had to really build up my self-esteem because it was really bad. After living through, 'You can't go here, you can't go there,' and then all of a sudden, you can…it was a little rough to get through that stage," said DaLuz.

She and her late husband, Joseph DaLuz, were deeply involved in issues surrounding race and justice on Cape Cod.

That history of activism includes helping the "Reverse Freedom Riders" in the summer of 1962, when southern segregationists, in a foreshadowing of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's immigrant action this summer, bused southern Blacks from Arkansas and Louisiana to Hyannis.

The passengers were told they would find jobs and housing and be welcomed by President John F. Kennedy himself when they arrived. A concerned citizens committee, which included the DaLuzes, went into action to help the group, connecting them with housing and work.

Other opportunities to engage

The MLK Action Team, which is part of the Nauset Interfaith Association, is also holding its annual MLK Day Virtual Breakfast on Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Zoom. Information about how to attend can be found on the association's website.

A panel discussion featuring members of the health care community will center on action steps and solutions that people can take to address inequities on the Lower and Outer Cape. Leo Blandford, director of community-based care at Outer Cape Health Services, will head the discussion, which will include perspectives from a community health worker, social worker and primary care physician.

"The thrust is really to educate all of us on the various impacts inequities in health care are having on communities," said Barbara Gibson, a member of the MLK Action Team and the chairwoman of the breakfast.

On Monday in Wellfleet, ArtPeaceMakers will host its 21st walking celebration to honor King. Walkers will gather in the parking lot next to the Town Hall at 12:30 p.m. with a drumming circle, with the silent walk beginning at 1 p.m.

In honor of King's commitment to ending hunger, ArtPeaceMakers will also collect nonperishable items, along with financial donations, in front of Wellfleet Preservation Hall from 12 to 2 p.m. also on Monday. Donations will be delivered to the Wellfleet Food Pantry that day.

Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Dolores DaLuz is the keynote speaker of Sunday MLK event in Hyannis