When Eric Jackson was in middle school, he went to a school dance and spent the entire evening standing along a wall, until a school staffer told him he “can’t sit this one out” because it was the last dance.

On Monday, Jackson—a new minister at Eliot Church in Newton Corner—told that story to a packed crowd at First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton as a metaphor for the current social and civil crisis live-streaming and broadcasting worldwide.

“You can’t sit this one out,” Jackson said in a powerful 12-minute call to action.

At the Harmony Foundation’s 58th celebration of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday in West Newton, hearts were with Minnesota and minds were set on social justice and action.

For months, Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents have been filmed apprehending people off the streets, and deaths inside ICE detention centers have hit 20-year highs. And federal agents continue to clash with civilian protesters after an agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

In referencing the chaos, School Committee member Tamika Olszewski, a member of the Executive Board of the Harmony Foundation, noted a quote by Dr. King: “Power without love is reckless and abusive.”

“In Minnesota and across the national stage, we are seeing this play out in grotesque and incomprehensible ways,” she said. “I’m so proud that with the Harmony Foundation, we reject such notions. Instead, we lift up the beauty of our different races, ethnicities and our religions.”

Tamika Olszewski of the Harmony Foundation delivers remarks at the foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

‘If you can’t fly, run’

FUUSN’s Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner noted that last year’s ceremony was held on the same day at President Donald Trump’s inauguration and that the events that have transpired since are contrary to Dr. King’s dream.

“With Minnesota occupied, masked, untrained federal vigilantes kidnapping people on our streets, Venezuela under U.S. control and the NATO alliance being threatened by the United States, we can surely, though, imagine what Dr. King might be saying about what is happening in our country today,” Haffner said. “Surely he would be deeply distressed and beyond disappointed.”

But, Haffner continued, times of trouble are times for action.

“If Dr. King were alive today, we know he would be organizing and protesting and advocating for democracy and for the most marginalized. He would be urging us to resist white supremacy, racism, sexism, militarism, anti-immigration policies and attacks on our neighbors, he would be calling us to lean into and practice the discipline of non-violence and to remember, as hard as it is, to love our enemies and resist their evil acts,” she said.

Indeed, while last year’s ceremony was one of anxious waiting, speakers this year urged resistance instead of defeatism.

Jackson quoted a speech Dr. King gave at Spelman College in 1960:

“If you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving.”

“Endurance is refusing to disappear. Endurance is what carried people through jail cells, lost jobs, broken bodies, fire hoses, dogs, long nights when the only thing that felt certain was the call to keep going,” Jackson said over roaring applause. “This is why King believed suffering could wear injustice down, not because suffering is holy, but because injustice relies on our exhaustion. But endurance is what starves it. Endurance is what pulls the mask off. And so when people keep showing up, the lie that oppression is necessary finally can start to crack. Consciences that tried not to look are forced to see, and this is how endurance becomes the fuel. It keeps the floor full long enough for the music to change.”

Mayor Marc Laredo speaks at the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

‘Newton must be different’

Mayor Marc Laredo delivered an impassioned speech vowing to keep Newton a safe harbor in a storm of oppression and violence engulfing the national stage.

“This is a time of great unrest in our country. People are being labeled and detained based on the color of their skin, the language they speak, the work they do, the place where they were born,” Laredo said. “People are being targeted because of the person they choose to love, or the god they choose, or choose not, to worship. People are being ridiculed because of their disability, gender, age, sexuality and appearance.”

Laredo repeated a call he made in his inaugural address earlier this month: “Newton must be different.”

“As I speak this morning, masked ICE agents are using cruelty and terror to blur the lines of democracy on the streets of Minneapolis and across our country,” Laredo said. “But I also say that knowing that this nation, this commonwealth and this city are built on the belief that our differences make us stronger.

“I say that knowing that we can, indeed we must, celebrate our diversity while forging our shared bonds as Americans,” Laredo continued. “I say that knowing that this melting pot that we call the United States of America must continue the love of others and preserve and protect the freedoms of speech, of religion, of the press that allows each one of us to continue to cherish our individual cultures and traditions. And I say that knowing that people from all across the world have been and will continue to be—and let me say that again, will continue to be—welcome right here in Newton as they make our 13 villages their home.”

David Herlihy leads the Troubadours in a performance of “Good Trouble” at the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

‘Love always gets the last word’

The outrage at the events unfolding in the world outside was balanced by hope that came in the form of song.

Anna Tackie delivered a powerful rendition of “Let Love Lead.” The All-City Troubadours, joined by vocalist and guitarist David Herlihy, lifted the crowd with “Good Trouble.”

And as with every year, a group of student speakers—Adrianna Concalves, Cora Neate-Harris, Isaac Barbosa and David Whittier—offered hope for the future amidst the troubles of the present.

Neate-Harris talked about finding the courage to talk to a dance instructor about her and the only two other Black girls being in the back of a dance formation and how tackling that uncomfortable moment has prepared her for college. She’ll be going to Howard University next fall.

Barbosa, a Newton North Career and Technical Education student, talked about the need for people to talk to each other, to get over their fear of each other and to stand together.

“So, as we leave today, let us have the courage to cross the line that separates us, and let’s actually talk to one another and make sure that, in our lives, love always gets the last word,” Barbosa said.

MORE PHOTOS

Rev. Devlin Scott of New City Church serves as master of ceremonies at the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Anna Tackie sings “Let Love Lead” at the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Student David Whittier talks about race at the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner of First Universalist Unitarian Society in Newton speaks at the start of the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Superintendent Dr. Anna Nolin speaks at the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Student Cora Neate-Harris speaks at the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Student Adrianna Concalves speaks at the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Student Isaac Barbosa speaks at the Harmony Foundation’s 58th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle