Please join us for
two outstanding events honoring
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Jelani Cobb, the renowned journalist, scholar, speaker, and current dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, will be the guest of honor at Westport’s 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.
The annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration is a partnership between the Library, TEAM Westport, the Westport Country Playhouse, Westport Museum for History and Culture, and the Westport/Weston Clergy Association.
Why You Should Come
Cobb is a clear voice in the fight for a better America. The dean of the Columbia Journalism School and PBS Frontline correspondent for two critically acclaimed documentaries, Cobb explores the enormous complexities of our history, politics, and culture, while offering guidance and hope for the future.
A longtime writer for The New Yorker, the editor of its anthology collection The Matter of Black Lives, and the author of Three or More Is a Riot (one of Kirkus‘s best books of the year), Cobb “combines the rigor and depth of a professional historian with the alertness of a reporter, the liberal passion of an engaged public intellectual, and the literary flair of a fine writer,” said Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 7 PM, Westport Country Playhouse
Free screening of the Emmy-winning 2019 documentary True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality and talk back to follow.
True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality is a documentary film that follows Bryan Stevenson and EJI’s struggle to create greater fairness in the criminal justice system.
This feature documentary focuses on Bryan Stevenson’s life and career—particularly his indictment of the U.S. criminal justice system for its role in codifying modern systemic racism—and tracks the intertwined histories of slavery, lynching, segregation, and mass incarceration. Highlighting watershed moments involving cases and clients, True Justice offers a rare glimpse into the human struggle that is required when the poor and people of color are wrongly condemned or unfairly sentenced, and explores the personal toll it takes. The burden of facing this system is explored in candid interviews with associates, close family members, and clients.
The film also documents the monumental opening of EJI’s Legacy Museum and its National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which is dedicated to the more than 4,400 African American victims of lynching. These sites are part of EJI’s effort to engage the nation in a new era of truth and justice.
True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality reveals a history that can’t be forgotten in the pursuit of genuine justice.
Stay after the screening for a chat with one of the film’s Executive Producers, Trey Ellis, hosted by Harold Bailey, Jr. (Westport Playhouse Trustee and TEAM Westport Chair) followed by a brief audience Q&A.
This event is FREE to the public and part of the 20th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.
FROM WESTPORT PRIDE
YOUNG VOICES:
THE WINNERS OF
2025 TEAM WESTPORT
TEEN DIVERSITY
ESSAY CONTEST
Jerri Graham Photography
1st Place: Annam Olasewere, Understood. Connected. Valued.
2nd Place: Aanya Gandhi, White Paint and Other Lies
3rd Place: Souleye Kebe, S-L-M
Honorable Mention: Sienna Tzou, The Value of Identity from the Start
Photos: Jerri Graham Photography
Our Mission.
Issues stemming from multicultural shortcomings are national problems. Yet they exist in Westport too. Achieving and celebrating “a more welcoming, multicultural community with respect to race, ethnicity, religion and LGBTQIA+” offers us a tangible, achievable objective for community activities as well as opportunities for individual commitment.
If our neighbors represent all the parts of the world in which we live, that will strengthen the community’s fabric – the way our lives interact.
We will do a better job of preparing our children for their future.
Our lively civic discourse will become even richer when additional diverse viewpoints are represented.
And perhaps most importantly, we will increase the possibility that each of us — in our own ways and in our own lives — will experience, enjoy and grow from the richness of diversity in our community.
Calendar
It takes everyone together, not one group here or there. Othering, in all ists forms, runs through our society. It doesn’t affect one group, but all groups. Empathy runs through us all too. Together we are strong.
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![Book cover: The Undocumented Americans]()
Book Club
Drop in as you like. No pressure! Participate in whatever way suits you.
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![Hands holding cups of coffee]()
Parent Work Group
Parents come together to discuss ideas or concerns about supporting our children and students.
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![King in the Wilderness documentary title frame]()
Events
Enjoy, learn, meet people at our partner events!
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![2024 MLK Day Event Poster]()
Annual MLK Day Event
Join us each year! Co-sponsored by the Westport Library and the Westport Country Playhouse and TEAM Westport.
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![A long curved bookshelf in a library.]()
Educational Resources
Recommended books, articles, links
How can I help?
Help us achieve our mission to extend, and celebrate a more multicultural community. Your contribution will help support the Teen Essay Contest, special events programming, and other initiatives.