Island NAACP honors MLK Day 

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Updated Jan. 21

In a rising tide of societal and economic uncertainty nationwide, leaders of the most established civil rights organization on the Island made calls for a united front against fears of a country stepping back from gains made during the civil rights movement and a call for the next generation of activists to step up.

More than 100 people gathered at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs on Monday to join the Martha’s Vineyard branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for its annual membership luncheon in honor of the slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At the packed club, guests were nourished by the cooking of the Roxbury-based caterer Seasoned with Soul and accompanied by strains of jazz played by local pianist Jeremy Berlin. 

And, fittingly, the MLK Day event also featured a red, white, and blue poster near the podium portraying another legendary civil rights leader, Congressman John Lewis, alongside his famous phrase “Get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.” Lewis, who lived in Atlanta and represented Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District from 1986 until he died in 2020 at the age of 80, was one of the original Freedom Riders, part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and helped organize the March on Washington in August 1963, where King made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

But amid reflections on King’s dream, and how far Americans had to go to make it come true, trouble was one of the themes of the day. Speakers highlighted the rise of white nationalism and the ongoing use of force by the Trump administration — from the strike in Venezuela to clashes around U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis — and made calls to action, especially to inspire a younger generation of activists. 

“As a Black Native American woman in an interracial marriage … I worry about the future of this country,” said Grace Robinson, chair of the Vineyard NAACP’s MLK committee. “We face persistent racial injustice, economic inequality, and erosion of trusted democracy in our government.” 

Robinson highlighted the “constant exposure to hate” that social media platforms and artificial intelligence help facilitate, and said she felt that if King were alive today, he would “remind the nation that progress requires both laws that protect justice and a collective conscience that values human dignity over fear and division.” 

Kyle Williams, the guest speaker, who founded the antiracism program A Long Talk, offered a quote from Dr. King: “There is nothing more tragic than to sleep through a revolution.” 

But he highlighted that the current revolution may not be the one people at the luncheon wanted to see, and may have begun with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the re-election of Donald Trump and what Williams described as a rise in white nationalism. 

“There is a revolution going on in our country right now, and it’s not the one we were hoping for,” Williams said.

Williams also underscored that issues need to be addressed by people outside the Black community; he noted the fact that the celebrated Underground Railroad moved Black people out of slavery into safer states in the North, but that it is important to remember that white people risked their lives to break the law by hiding people along the way.

“If Black people could end white supremacy, we would have done it by now,” Williams said. 

Williams also said it was time for younger advocates to be called upon, and urged current leaders to find ways to energize a new generation who may have grown disconnected from the struggles for equality fought by older generations. 

The NAACP’s Vineyard branch’s new president, Shawn Ramoutar, shared this sentiment, and said that it was time to develop a new batch of civil rights advocates on the Island and across the country. 

Ramoutar said the organization has worked to “advance civil rights” with other organizations like churches, schools, and advocacy groups. He recalled the Taste of Juneteenth event the NAACP of Martha’s Vineyard held that “uplifted Black history and culture,” and when NAACP members joined hundreds of Islanders at a No Kings rally in Tisbury against the Trump administration in October. The organization had established a partnership with the advocacy group Indivisible to bring the Fourth Amendment Project to Islanders and residents, to “educate our community on their civil rights in the face of ICE kidnappings and protect themselves and their employees.” 

“Dr. King once reminded us we can all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now,” Ramoutar said. “No matter our backgrounds or work in life, we are one community. Our destiny is tied together in that single boat. We call it the ferry, calling us to steer it toward justice and equality for all.” 

Looking ahead, Ramoutar said he wanted to grow the Vineyard NAACP’s membership and “build truly representative Island freedom fighters,” especially by engaging with young residents. He said the organization will “safeguard democracy whenever it is threatened” by “showing up, speaking out, and getting into good trouble to protect the rights and dignity of all.” 

“Our community is our strength, and no force can stop a determined community fighting for justice. No force,” Ramoutar said. “We are in the same boat, so let’s row forth together to a more brighter and justful future.”

Following Ramoutar’s reading of a land acknowledgement, which honored the Wampanoag Tribe as the “original stewards” of the Island for more than 10,000 years, and recognized the “painful history of genocide and occupation on their territory,” and a mission statement reading, Rev. Joanne Huss, pastor at the United Methodist Church of Martha’s Vineyard, led a prayer of thanksgiving with a prayer King had given decades ago that includes a message she said was still “distressingly appropriate.” 

“Dearest Jesus, come and sit with us today. Show us the lies that are still embedded in the soul of America’s consciousness. Unmask the untruths that we have made our best friends, for they seek our destruction, and we are being destroyed,” a portion of the prayer reads. The prayer also asks Jesus to “give us the courage to embrace the truth about ourselves and you and our world,” and faith to “renounce the lies and tear down the walls that separate us with our hands, with our feet, and with our votes.”

Williams stated that Martin Luther King Jr. Day was not just a holiday but a day of service. He said that if people are wondering where change should begin, it should “start in the mirror.” 

“We have to decide that whatever space we’re in is a place ignorance can’t exist,” Williams said. “When you push back against ignorance, it pushes back on all of that stuff — racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamaphobia, anti-Semitism — just dumb stuff.” 

At the gathering, there was also a swearing-in ceremony for NAACP of Martha’s Vineyard officers led by T. George Davis, Dukes County Superior Court clerk. A moment of silence was also held in memory of NAACP members who died in 2025. 

As the luncheon wound down, the program concluded with a sing-along, led by Cayhana Williams, of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a hymn by James Weldon Johnson that is often referred to as “the Black National Anthem.” 

“Lift every voice and sing, ’til earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty,” the song’s first verse reads.