Wakefield Human Rights Commission Holds MLK Day Ceremony, Announces 2026 Event Calendar

WAKEFIELD — January 19, 2026 — Wakefield Human Rights Commission hosted its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony at the Galvin Middle School on January 19, braving a winter snowstorm for a live-broadcast program themed around freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Town Administrator Denise Casey delivered opening remarks, quoting King and Maya Angelou, while Commissioner Erica Sadler read the commission's land acknowledgment recognizing Wakefield as the ancestral homeland of the Massachusetts people. Reverend Glenn Mortimer of the Wakefield Clergy Association offered a prayer, and Wakefield Memorial High School students Cara Nishino and Noah Nishino performed a violin medley. Commission host Han Leon announced a five-event 2026 calendar highlighted by a first-ever Cultures of Wakefield Food Festival on Indigenous Peoples Day in October and a second Asian Art and Food Truck Festival in May. The commission also disclosed three open seats, with applications accepted through whrc@wakefieldma.gov.