This building has so much significance for me. As a child and a teenager I spent a lot of afternoons here. They hosted summer programs, churches held events there, we practiced for plays and showcases. It was a place of gathering with friends, sharing meals, having baby showers, or just hanging out. The Martin Luther King Jr. Center was a hub of resources for many things– you could go there if you needed to access to a printer or if you needed to visit the food bank. With the passing of time and the diminishing of resources this building eventually closed and now is scheduled to be demolished.
When I read this article from The Day a flood of memories overtook me because this place meant a lot to my childhood. This building represents the times and seasons of shared community in my youth. However, it also made me think of other instances in my life where monuments have been removed or destroyed and what those things could mean both to me personally, and to us, as a community/society.
Recently, with the invigoration of the Black Lives Matter Movement, we saw a trend of removing monuments. Monuments to Christopher Columbus were rallied against and legally taken down. Sometimes, if no legal recourse was found, activists took down these monuments themselves. The razing of these physical totems represented the tearing down of old ideals, the refusal to accept incorrect and biased historical narratives, the expressed anger of people tired of being lied to and oppressed, and the call to action for more intentional reflection about who and what we praise, protect, and proliferate.
Personally, I acutely remember the recent removal of a well-known and prominent tree from my high school campus. This tree represented the friendships, community, and time I spent around it and under it during my high school years. When it was removed from the campus it represented the changing needs of a new community of students, implementation of new mores and ideals about privacy and campus safety, and the very real consideration that it’s dropping limbs were dangerous. Despite understanding all of this, the tree remains as a centerpiece in my high school experiences.
The thing is, it’s not just a building. It’s not just a statue. It’s not just a tree. These monuments represent something and they point to greater realities. I think when monuments fall it causes us all to reflect on how things have changed. The removal of this building will hopefully signal new energy for bringing community and resources into Norwich (which we definitely need). It is my hope that we will gather to consider what can be rebuilt or newly crafted to meet the needs of kids, teens, and young adults who were the majority of those served by the MLK Center.
As these monuments fall, it calls all of us to consider the change in times. Who were we, once before? Who are we now? What are we missing that we need? What else do we need to tear down or build up? And for me, I ask myself; what can I do to fill the gaps that so glaringly remain?
Today, I reflect and am grateful for the people and the times that the MLK Center represents in my own life. I also realize that between my time there and becoming the woman that I am today, I have had to tear down and build up many things in my own life. I have watched many monuments fall in my own journey and despite the pain, the hurt, and the nostalgia, I am honestly better for it all. I face the future with hope and expectation that these fallen monuments, including the MLK Center, have created space for something new, something better, something birthed by young and able minds to usher us all towards better and better tomorrows.
Fannie B 