Martin Luther King Day Community Celebration - Windsor Connecticut Chamber Of Commerce

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860-688-5165
261 Broad St, Windsor, CT 06095

January, 2008

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Event:

Martin Luther King Day Community Celebration

Date:

January 21st, 2008

Martin Luther King Day Community Celebration

The Archer Memorial AME Zion Church invites all residents to celebrate Martin Luther King Day on Monday, January 21 at 6:00 pm at the Windsor Town Hall. This year's theme is "Prospering In Health & Spirit" with keynote speaker Chris Donovan (State Representative from the 84th District). For more information call the Archer Memorial AME Zion Church office at 688-5225.

The mission this year is to raise awareness about the disparities within our nation's health care system and to promote actions at the community level that will assist in resolving this national crisis. We also desire to continue supporting higher education opportunities for youth in our community. This dual mission, to enhance our opportunities for health care and education, carries Dr. King's methods forward by confronting and combating a multiplicity of inequities that people of color must face each day. These inequities together create the disparities in health care which we want to eliminate. Together we can reinvigorate the hope that Dr. King now symbolizes, a hope we need to make the changes we desire for a truly just state and nation.

Maybe the most glaring social inequity that exists today in this country is that so many lack access to doctors and health care. In Connecticut alone approximately 400,000 people have no health coverage at all. Then there are the underinsured, a population that realizes too late that - even though they've paid for health security - they too can not access the services they need, when they get sick. Every health indicator demonstrates that our health care system is broken; we live sicker and die younger than we should.

Furthermore, if we are people of color, statistics bear out the sad reality that there are two health care systems in this state and country, one for whites and one for people of color. In regards to access for example, while 10% of Connecticut's population is Hispanic this population makes up 40% of those that are uninsured. In Connecticut, from 1999 to 2001, African Americans lost 11,028 years of potential life compared to the white population, which lost 5,687 years. Indeed in this state, African-Americans with cancer are 40% more likely than whites to die of this disease and Hispanics are 70% more likely. Disparities in health among racial and ethnic populations may be the most critical yet least understood health problem in Connecticut. Nationally, equalizing the mortality rates of whites with African-Americans would save 886,202 lives each year! These numbers attest to the wisdom of Dr. King who said "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." Closing the health care gap, between whites and people of color, demands real solutions that targets health disparities at the roots. Both the failure of the health care system and the persistent educational, economic, environmental, and social inequities which plague and divide our society are to blame.

Before his untimely and tragic death, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought tirelessly for social and racial equity in this country. Indeed with his leadership this movement made tangible strides when people both white and black could have resigned themselves to the injustices that continued to be such a demoralizing reality at that time. Martin Luther King, Jr. was about extending the opportunities this country offered to some citizens to all of this country's inhabitants. Now his life and the legacy of his leadership are celebrated each year on the third Monday in January. This annual Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday affords us all an opportunity to reflect upon the past while seeking hope, determination and an opportunity to act upon the promise of the future. For questions, call the church office at 860-688-5225.