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Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday Breakfast, Hosted by No Place for Hate – Falmouth, Monday, January 16, 2017, 9:30 – 11:00 A.M. Coonamessett Inn Keynote Speaker: Elon Cook, Program Manager of the Center for Reconciliation, Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island Special Presentation: to George Spivey, recipient of the No Place for Hate – Falmouth Civic Leadership Award Submitted by Pamela Rothstein (pbrothstein@comcast.net, 508-540-0602) Everyone is invited to join in Falmouth’s community celebration of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the MLK National Holiday Breakfast, hosted by No Place for Hate - Falmouth. This event will be held at the Coonamessett Inn at 311 Gifford Street, Falmouth on Monday, January 16 from 9:30 A.M. until 11:00 A.M., with doors opening at 9:15 A.M. The morning will include a full breakfast, live musical entertainment (featuring jazz pianist Ted Jellinek), participation by Falmouth students, a guest speaker from the Center for Reconciliation in Rhode Island, and a special presentation to Mr. George Spivey. No Place for Hate is a community organization that works to combat bias, build bridges, and promote respect for everyone in our community through advocacy and education. Tickets are $15 adults and $10 for students. This year we are introducing advance registration and payment, since there was a sold-out crowd last year. To obtain a reservation form, due by January 4, 2017, send an email request to npfhfalmouth@gmail.com. No Place for Hate – Falmouth will send you a form and recommends that you return it without delay to ensure a spot. Tickets will be sold at the door only if space is available. Attendees are requested to further honor the legacy of Rev. Dr. King, Jr. by bringing a donation of a non-perishable item of choice (no sweets, please) for the Falmouth Service Center. Those wishing to attend but needing financial assistance should contact No Place for Hate – Falmouth, which can provide subsidies. This year’s breakfast will also recognize the extraordinary efforts and legacy of Mr. George Spivey, who will be honored as the recipient of the first No Place for Hate – Falmouth Civic Leadership Award. George Spivey was the driving force behind No Place for Hate – Falmouth for over a decade and the founder of Falmouth’s annual MLK National Holiday breakfast. For many years he served as the Town of Falmouth’s Affirmative Action Officer and positively supported many students in Falmouth Public Schools and others in our community. This year’s featured speaker is Ms. Elon Cook, Program Manager at the Center for Reconciliation of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, who will address the role of the humanities in ending hate. The Center is central to the Diocese’s efforts to promote understanding of the state’s extensive and complicated role in the slave trade, especially on the part of its Episcopal families. The Center, in its planning stage, will be housed in the restored Cathedral of St. John and will be home to teaching museum about the slave trade history of Rhode Island, a space for performing arts related to this history, an education and training center for reconcilers and worship that would be both Episcopal and ecumenical. The museum, scheduled to open in 2017, will aim to illuminate the church’s role in the trade and the extensive but often-ignored history of slavery in New England. In establishing the museum and reconciliation center, the church is working with the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown and with descendants of the DeWolfs, a prominent Episcopalian family based in Bristol and the most prolific slave-trading family in the United States. The DeWolf family alone imported more than 12,000 Africans and profits from the slave trade by James DeWolf — speaker of the Rhode Island House, United States senator, banker, merchant, privateer and owner of numerous rum distilleries — were so vast that, according to newspaper accounts at the time of his death, in 1837, he was the second-richest man in the United States. One of his descendants, James DeWolf Perry III (1871-1947), became the bishop of Rhode Island, the first bishop of the cathedral here and later the 18th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Ms. Cook came to the Center for Reconciliation after graduating from Brown University, where she was involved in Brown’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. She also worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and served as humanities director of the Robins House, which interprets the life of a formerly enslaved African American Revolutionary War Veteran and three generations of his descendants, including farm laborers, and racial justice advocates. Ms. Cook, a genealogist, uses workshops, interpretation trainings, walking tours (of College Hill in Providence) and exhibitions to engage the public with forgotten or erased elements of American history. She will share with us reflections on … Two weeks following the breakfast, No Place for Hate – Falmouth will offer a companion program to Ms. Cook’s talk. At 7pm on Thursday, January 26, the public is invited to a free, community screening of the film "Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North," about the Rhode Island-based DeWolfe family - the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. The film follows filmmaker Katrina Browne, a DeWolfe descendant, and nine fellow family members on a remarkable journey that brings them face-to-face with the history and legacy of New England’s hidden enterprise. This event will take place at the Hermann Foundation Room, Falmouth Public Library. Do consider joining this special morning, with live music, good food, community conversation, and inspiring presentations by Ms. Cook and Falmouth students. Act fast to obtain a reservation from npfhfalmouth@gmail.com and return it promptly with payment to secure a spot.