January 26, 2007

Partners and the MGH celebrate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

With speeches, awards and music, MGHers celebrated the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jan. 19 in the conference center of the Richard B. Simches Research Center. Jeff Davis, senior vice president of Human Resources, introduced MGH President Peter L. Slavin, MD, who made the welcoming remarks. In his speech, Slavin spoke of how King's legacy relates to the MGH. "We have been working hard to develop and fund initiatives to make the MGH a better, more welcoming and supportive place for people from diverse backgrounds," said Slavin. He also highlighted the progress made by the MGH's Disparities Solutions Center, which has undertaken projects such as developing a comprehensive disease management model for minority diabetes patients and providing minority patients across the hospital with better access to mental health services.

Davis then introduced Carlyene Prince-Erickson, director of MGH Employee Education and Leadership Development, who recognized the MGH's recipients of the 2007 YMCA Black Achievers Award. Prince-Erickson spoke about each woman's contribution to the MGH and her community, and of how they exemplified the spirit of the award.

Shea Sherrod Asfaw, project director for MGH Strategic Planning and chair of the Association of Multicultural Members of Partners (AMMP), then introduced the Voices of MGH Choir. In a rousing performance, the choir sang the African song "One Family," followed by the gospel song "I Need You to Survive." During the song's final refrain — "You are important to me / I need you to survive" — audience members were encouraged to turn to the person next to them and say, "You are important to me." The singers received a standing ovation.

Candace Burns, director of the MGH/Boston Public Schools Partnership and AMMP membership chair, introduced the celebration's featured speaker, Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond, MD, co-pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church in Jamaica Plain and a pediatrician at the South End Community Health Center. White-Hammond spoke of the ongoing atrocities in Sudan. She has traveled to the country more than seven times to volunteer as a medical missionary, working to help obtain the freedom of more than 10,000 women and children forced into slavery during Sudan's 20-year civil war. In 2002, she co-founded My Sister's Keeper, a women's humanitarian group that works to help women in Sudan with the rebuilding and reconstruction of their communities. In her speech, White-Hammond encouraged audience members to help the humanitarian crisis in Sudan by not supporting corporations that had financial ties to the ongoing conflict. She also received a standing ovation.

The celebration concluded with a reception after the ceremony, where individuals had the opportunity to speak with White-Hammond and the rest of the afternoon's speakers and participants.

From left, Prince-Erickson, White-Hammond, Asfaw, Slavin and Davis