Rollins, McGovern speak at annual MLK Worcester community breakfast

WORCESTER — The city held its 38th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast in-person Monday for the first time since 2020, with several speakers saying the country’s current racial divisions bring heightened urgency to the ongoing struggle for civil rights.

“Unfortunately the pandemic revealed ... (the) fractures of our society,” Luis G. Pedraja, president of Quinsigamond Community College, told the hundreds who assembled at the college for the event. “We saw, more clearly than ever, that racism and systemic oppression still have a strong hold on our society.

“We still see that violence plagues us, and that hatred still thrives in our midst, as particularly exemplified in the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many, many others.”

Pedraja went to summarize actions surrounding equity the college has taken in recent years, and was one of multiple speakers to stress the importance of honoring King’s legacy through action.

“Our job is not just to put a Black Lives Matter flag in our window, or post on social media about how bad racism is, or how we all attended this breakfast,” U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, said. “We need to disrupt racism in our individual choices, in our economic choices and, especially, in our political choices.”

McGovern said leaders need to be, “antiracist: to intentionally and courageously live our life supporting policies that combat racism and ideas that promote justice, equity, inclusion and diversity.”

He added that looking to root out or avoid individual biases is not enough.

“The truth is that racism is about power and politics, and even if I, as a white person, do not hold racist views, I am part of a system that has spent decades helping certain people and harming other people due to their skin color,” McGovern said.

Rollins delivers keynote address

The event’s keynote speaker, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael S. Rollins, noted that the organization for which she works, the Department of Justice (DOJ), was established in the 1870s to combat racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan following the Civil War.

Rollins said the work of protecting civil rights is an important part of her job, listing it among two other items - protecting against violent crime and combating the opioid crisis — as top priorities.

Rollins’ office, along with the DOJ's Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., is currently conducting a civil “pattern-or-practice” investigation into the Worcester Police Department.

The DOJ in November said it found “significant justification” to investigate whether Worcester police routinely use excessive force or discriminate based on race or sex.

Speaking in a room that included many city officers, including Police Chief Steven M. Sargent, Monday, Rollins stressed the importance of collaborating to address injustice, and offered praise for Sargent, who she embraced following her speech.

“I’ll be honest — sometimes it is very hard to hold law enforcement accountable while working with them every single day to keep our neighborhoods safe,” Rollins said. ‘But what makes this work easier is people like Chief Sargent, and command staff and officers here who are committed to doing the right thing (and) learning to do better.”

Rollins added that Sargent and others know that the conduct of a “select few” makes it harder to build trust and serve the community, and “do not reflect the overwhelming majority of men and women in law enforcement who risk their lives for us every single day.”

Rollins said she is in touch with Sargent about violence happening in Worcester, referencing a recent shooting on Harlem Street in which an infant was injured.

Chief Sargent declined a request for comment after Monday’s event, saying he did not have time to speak.

Sargent presents department service awards

Also Monday, Sargent gave a department service award named after former Black WPD Lt. Loman Rutherford to two officers: Capt. Kenneth Davenport, the first Black officer in the city to be named captain, and Officer David Rutherford, the younger brother of the late Lt. Rutherford.

“People like Loman don’t come along every day,” Rutherford said as he thanked Sargent for the award and spoke of his brother’s service. “He’s one in a million. One in a billion.”

Sargent also praised Loman Rutherford before giving the awards, calling him “one of the best officers I’ve ever met.”

Rollins was the only speaker Monday who alluded to the pattern-or-practice probe.

Other speakers included City Manager Eric D. Batista, who remarked that the city has shown a “tireless commitment to serving its most vulnerable members,” but said it could also not rest on its laurels.

“One of my top priorities is to create a more inclusive and representative workforce,” Batista said — a future where “diverse youth see themselves better represented in positions of leadership, business, the arts, healthcare, and all industries and sectors of the city.”

Batista, the city’s first Latino manager, assumed office the same day Rollins’ probe into police was announced, and as an audit of city hall ordered by his predecessor found a “racially toxic” culture.

Batista — who did not reference the audit or police probe directly in his brief remarks — ended with a quote from King.

“Dr. King said, ‘History has proven that social systems have a great last-minute breathing power, and the guardians of the status quo are always on hand with an oxygen tank that tends to keep the old order alive.'"

Added Batista: “I know that we are capable of challenging the status quo, embracing the lived experiences of our BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] community, and working together to make Worcester a vibrant and thriving city for all.”

In addition to speeches, Monday’s event featured numerous awards and scholarships.

The annual Eleanor T. Hawley Community Service Award was presented to George Storms Smith — a founder of the MLK breakfast with a decades-long career in education and civil rights activism, and Gordon Hargrove, the prolific city volunteer who worked at The Friendly House for more than six decades.

The segment that appeared to capture the most enthusiastic applause Monday was an impressive father-son musical duet from Noah and David Allen, parishioners of The Journey Community Church in Worcester.

The Allens received a standing ovation following a performance in which more than a few people in the crowd dabbed their eyes.

Noah Allen, who played trumpet as his father played guitar, will attend Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Rollins, McGovern speak at annual MLK breakfast