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Employees of BWH and Partners HealthCare gathered at the hospital on January 24 to commemorate the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event featured the Honorable John Lewis (below), Civil Rights activist and Congressman from Georgia.
Lewis, a staunch advocate of nonviolence, has been characterized as “one of the most courageous people the Civil Rights movement ever produced.” At BWH, he spoke passionately of joining others who risked their lives in the 1961 Freedom Ride. A long-time friend of Dr. King, Lewis led more than 600 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama suffering a concussion from the blow of a police officer’s baton after state troopers confronted and attacked the marchers on the bridge.
“We live in a better country, in a better place because Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired us to believe that we can be better and that we are better,” said Lewis. The program included remarks from BWH President Gary L. Gottlieb, MD, MBA; Partners President and CEO James Mongan, MD; Vice President of Human Resources at BWH, Cheryl Locke; and BWH’s Medical Director of Community Health Programs JudyAnn Bigby, MD.
The Maurice J.Tobin Elementary School Chorus adorned the audience with a musical commemoration.
Following the ceremony, audience members were invited to attend a reception in the Pod B Cafeteria at which Lewis was available to speak with employees and sign his book, the award-winning national best seller, Walking With the Wind.