MANCHESTER, N.H. – Friends, activists and others looking to honor the teachings and birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gathered at Manchester Memorial High School on Monday for the 44th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Community Celebration.
Organized by the New Hampshire Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition, this event continued its purpose of trying to honor Granite Staters in the community who have helped advance King’s crusade against injustice and intolerance as well as seeking to lift the spirits of others that belief in his cause.
This year, the coalition honored former State Senator Melanie Levesque (D-Brookline), the first African-American state senator in New Hampshire history, with the 2026 MLK Jr. Award.
During her speech accepting the award, Levesque talked about racism faced by herself, her family and others over American history such as King as well as the need to continue fighting for causes fought for by King and now under attack in New Hampshire such as equal voting rights for all and support for segregation in schools.
“My friends, our sacred American right to vote is under attack, but we shall not be moved,” she said. “We are not powerless and we shall not be moved. We need to stand up for what we believe.”
Levesque added that she will be running for the District 5 Executive Council seat this fall, a race she lost to Milford Republican David Wheeler by about 10,000 votes in 2024.
New Hampshire State Representative Alice Wade (D-Dover) was also honored during the event with the Vanessa Washington-Johnson Bloeman Award. Named after deceased Manchester activist Vanessa Johnson-Bloeman, the award is given by the coalition to emerging New Hampshire social justice leaders. Wade is one of four transgender state representatives currently serving in Concord.
“People are fed up. The tides are turning, and it’s on all of us to stand up for what’s right in this moment. I promise to continue fighting to bend the arc of history alongside all of you no matter how long it takes,” she said.
In addition to these awards, a collection of songs from the civil rights era and the singing of the Black National Anthem and time dedicated to constructing aid kits for those in need at the beginning of the event, there was also a panel discussion entitled “Uplifting Resistance Through Community.”
Led by Anthony Poore of the New Hampshire Center for Justice and Equity, the panel of Reverend Robert Thompson, Dr. Dottie Morris and Manchester Ward 5 Alderman Jason Bonilla explored a variety of topics.
Thompson, minister of the Sovereign Souls Fellowship Church in Portsmouth, felt that the best way to fight back against the resurgence of injustice in the country was to stand with others in spirituality against that injustice.
“Any establishment of community is resistance because connection to others is doing God’s work,” he said. “It takes bold action and bold decision and commitment,” adding, “When you say to someone else that they matter, that is an act of resistance.”
Bonilla and Morris agreed that people have an obligation to use their voices to help those without a voice and represent those who are walking the path they once walked earlier in their lives. Morris, who serves as associate vice president of Keene State College, shared her experiences of her Haitian heritage as well as her efforts to fight against smoking due to her struggles with asthma.
“We always have the choice to show up, we have the choice to collaborate, we have the choice to become the co-conspirators in the future that we design,” said Morris.
Bonilla recalled stories from when his family emigrated from El Salvador and his bilingualism as both a strength and a duty.
“My mom always told me that since you speak two languages, you’ve got to open your mouth,” said Bonilla. “I don’t have a (college) degree, I might not be as eloquent as other speakers, but we all speak powerfully in our own ways.”