Strong Partnerships Forge Strong Communities

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Dear Editor:

Uplifting a community takes a community.

As it has been for over 3 decades the Eastern Shore’s Community Unity Day celebrated the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on his namesake holiday.

The breaking of bread over a community breakfast was a tradition forged by a strong partnership that continues today between the Northampton Branch of the NAACP, Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore, and Northampton Public Schools.

Because of the pandemic, this year the beloved celebration was a two parter, a virtual online salute to students on Friday evening, and a Monday morning broadcast with an array of community leaders including those from the Accomack NAACP, and our local youth on WESR Radio.

It took many hands to continue this show of unity in an all new format. We are most grateful to Pender & Coward Attorneys and Counsellors at Law, The Honorable John and Martina Coker, H. Spencer and Debra Murray, Willie C. Randall of Edward Jones, CBES and the Northampton County Board of Supervisors.

We also appreciate the time and talents of NAACP Education Chair, Joanne Fitchett and her team, Subrina Parker, Principal, Kiptopeke Elementary, Tracy Giddens-Jarrett and all who made this celebration a great success.

Special thanks to our friends at WESR who pulled it together beautifully; Will Russell and Kelley Gaskill.

Though the 2021 Community Unity Day was celebrated differently it still served as an important reminder right here at home.

As Jane Cabarrus, Regional 1 Director for Accomack and Northampton County Branches of the NAACP stated, “It takes a commitment on the part of all of us, a community, a state and the whole nation to dedicate and devote one’s self to make this a better place for all.”

The Northampton Branch of the NAACP, Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore, Northampton Public School

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