MLK Action

New & Exciting…

Upcoming Events

News & activities the MLK Action Team wants to share with our neighbors (see details below)

Final Poetry Slam Workshops, 4 sessions, August 10, 17, 24 and 31 at Belonging Books, Hyannis.  Led by Tamora Israel, a poet, interdisciplinary artist, performer, and cultural organizer, and Co-CEO of Ascending Phoenix Productions whose work lives at the intersection of art and activism.  Tamora has showcased her performance-style poetry and hosting skills at several events, including several Open Mic nights on and off Cape Cod, the Barnstable No Place For Hate listening session on race, the George Floyd Memorial A-Way with Words event on the Hyannis Village Green and many more.

She recently was seen at Cotuit Center for the Arts for her show, Poetry From My Brain Parts, part living memoir, part spoken-word concert, part movement piece, and part communal ritual.

​You can read more about Tamora’s awards and accomplishments on her website: https://tamorapoetry.wordpress.com/

September 29, 6 pm through Brooks Free Library in Harwich, a virtual author discussion with Q & A will be taking place with author Joseph Lee regarding his recent book Nothing More of This Land.   As described in a recent Chronicle column: “Joseph Lee, member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) on Martha’s Vineyard,  is an investigative journalist… In his memoir, he explores the complexities of Indigeneous identity, displacement and resilience.  The memoir also addresses the reality of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal members priced out of their ancestral land, where three quarters of the community now live off-island”.   Registration for the author talk can be done through the library’s website www.brooksfreelibrary.org on their calendar page.  In person, community conversation about the book will also be offered on September 1 and 15 from 6 – 7 pm.

A beautiful iniative, “Circle of Humanity” is creating a plaza to be a first-of-its-kind space for Holocaust remembrance, civil rights education and Black-Jewish dialogue: https://www.jta.org/2026/06/25/united-states/in-north-carolina-a-memorial-project-will-honor-martin-luther-king-and-holocaust-victims?utm_source=JTA_Iterable&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email

An important new resource from the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) for all Health Care workers:https://www.nilc.org/resources/advocating-on-behalf-of-patients-in-ice-custody-a-resource-for-healthcare-providers/ 

Looking for books to recommend to your kids or visiting grandchildren?  Check out the many beautiful suggestions on the website of Social Justice Books: https://www.socialjusticebooks.org/   You can find them by topic and/or by reading/grade level.

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”  The powerful oration written by Frederick Douglass in 1852 is considered one of the great American speeches and still resonates with its readers today.  Read excerpts or the full text at the Constitution Center website: https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/frederick-douglass-what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july-1852

MLK Action Team member and Education Task Force Co-Chair recently wrote a guest column in the Cape Cod Chronicle “North Harwich’s Historical Significance from a Cape Verdean Perspective”.  Read the article here:  https://nausetinterfaith.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/North-Harwich-Historical-Significance.pdf 

Educators – check out this link https://www.ilctr.org/events/summer-ready/ or visit The Immigrant Learning Center website  to find info to be Summer Ready: Strategies to Support Immigrant Students’ Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Interesting Website titled “Opportunities for White People in the Fight for Racial Justice.  Scroll down to #3 and click on various boxed images for ideas of something “to do” in support of racial justice. https://www.whiteaccomplices.org/

There are many state legislative proposals that align with the mission and values of Nauset Interfaith Association.  An excellent source of information regarding proposals can be found on the website of the State League of Women Voters https://my.lwv.org/massachusetts/cape-cod-area/2025-2026-lwvcca-followed-legislation

Combat Racial Wealth Inequities by supporting local businesses with BIPOC (Black, Indigeneous, Persons of Color) owners.  AmplifyPOCcapecod.com is a nonprofit dedicated to educating about and eliminating the racial wealth gap.  They maintain an across the Cape list of businesses owned by persons of color.  Here, thanks to NIA member M.A. Watson, is a curated list of businesses with an easy drive for NIA members: https://nausetinterfaith.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AMPLIFY-POC-Business.pdf   Businesses include restaurants, and numerous other services.

Check out the on line story of our 2026 MLK Breakfast titled “Leaning into Love by Teresa Martin at https://capecodnews.org/leaning-into-love/ with video clips and brief interviews.

– Link to Community Conversation “Racism on Cape Cod: What are our institutions doing and what can we do”: https://www.youtube.com/live/jJAQdRSFDYQ  

Feeling the Need to “Do Something”?  Here’s are suggestions from AltaMed to contribute to your community: https://nausetinterfaith.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Community-Support-Activities-pdf.pdf

If searching for ways to talk to kids about race, check out the website EmbraceRace here https://www.embracerace.org/ 

Link to a list of Anti-Racism Resources including books, films, podcasts and more recently shared with us by a team member:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/edit   Document compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein in May 2020.

Open Eyes Travel – posting photos from travel that opens our eyes to a more inclusive US History.   If you want to share travel experiences that may help us broaden our understanding of the contributions of persons of color to our US history, please send them to me with brief explanation of photo at boujoukosk@comcast.net

View MLK Action Team Public Service Announcement with Lower Cape TV here:  https://vimeo.com/816645523

Please note that many of the event flyers below are not NIA sponsored events.  All NIA events will be listed here as well as on our calendar page.

Any Time Activity

Celebrating the Mosaic: Sites of Historic and Cultural Significance for the Many People Who Call ( & Have Called) Cape Cod home, a fun, self-paced, (virtual or in person) educational scavenger hunt activity for people of all ages.  PDF LINK

Past Special Events

Education Task Force

The mission of the MLK Education Task Force is to help our communities reflect deeply on the way that race and other identifiers negatively impact education through thoughtful and thought-provoking learning opportunities. Our goal is to help to create safe, kind, and equitable educational communities by offering collaborative, value-added solutions to deficits in our educational systems and by providing BIPOC residents of Cape Cod, with a particular focus on educators and students, with social and professional support.

Current Initiatives:

• DEI centered conference, free to all Cape Cod educators will be held on July 11, 2023 at the MRSD high school on Oak St. in Harwich.  Watch this site for detailed information soon.
• Community Book Drive to bring literature featuring children and families from a variety of cultures and ethnicities into our local classrooms successfully concluded with approximately 40 new books going to each Nauset and Monomoy School District 3rd grade classroom library.  Book drives are held on alternating years from the educators’ conference.  This year’s book drive will benefit the Dennis Yarmouth School District which has one of the largest and fastest growing BIPOC student populations on the Cape.
• Educator Mentorship Network to match newly hired educators of color with current and retired educators of color to help navigate their early career years.   
• Celebrating the Mosaic: Sites of Historic and Cultural Significance for the Many People Who Call ( & Have Called) Cape Cod Home, a fun, self-paced, (virtual or in person) educational scavenger hunt activity for people of all ages.  NOW available through link on this webpage.

LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL STUDY GROUPS

Most Americans are familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King’s ” I Have A Dream,” moving address; however, fewer than 10% have read and studied his ” Letter From Birmingham Jail,” considered by most scholars as his most important work.