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240th Anniversary of Massachusetts Emancipation Day

8:00 AM to 10:00 AM – 3rd Annual Quock Walker Day Hike for Freedom

Bowman Elementary School
9 Philip Rd, Lexington, MA 02421

ACROSS Lexington Route M Loop
A Family Friendly Trail Walk of 3.3 Miles
8:00 AM – Registration & Storytelling
8:30 AM – Walk starts

Register at qwdhike4freedom2023.racewire.com

Join ABCL’s celebration of the 240th anniversary of the Supreme Judicial Court decision that ended slavery in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1783.

Hear the story of Quock Walker’s life and judicial victories.
This event will run from 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM.

11:00 AM to 3:00 PM – 3rd Annual Quock Walker Day Community Celebration

Visitors Center Lawn
1875 Massachusetts Ave
Lexington MA 02420

Join ABCL’s celebration of the 240th anniversary of the Supreme Judicial Court decision that ended slavery in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1783. Learn about the lives of Lexingtonians who were enslaved and emancipated. Hear how Quock Walker’s fortitude and judicial victories inspired his relatives to fight for equal rights in Massachusetts and for the abolition of slavery across the United States of America.

Highlights include colonial children’s games: hoop play, game of graces, and quoits, West African food and dance, colonial arts and crafts, colonial and military reenactors, and more.

This event is open to all and will run from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM.

Join us at this virtual event co-sponsored with Cary Library. Registration is required. We’ll talk about the history of Juneteenth and the ways in which the holiday has evolved. Nicole will share some of her favorite recipes to honor the Juneteenth holiday and Black celebrations year-round. Download the flyer here.

June 2, 2023 at 12:30 PM – ABCL First Friday Lunch at Via Lago

1845 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA 02420. Join us for lunch on the first Friday of each month

June 7, 2023 Cary Library Virtual Event – Watermelon and Red Birds with Food Writer and Author, Nicole A. Taylor

Registration required at https://carylibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/virtual-watermelon-and-red-birds-with-author-nicole-taylor/

June 8, 2023 at 7:00 PM – ABCL Second Thursday Social at Burtons

43 Middlesex Turnpike Unit 10B, Burlington, MA 01803. Join us on the second Thursday of each month

June 15, 2023 at 7:00 PM – June business meeting

Our guests will be Dr. Julie Hackett – Superintendent of Lexington Public Schools, Barbara Hamilton – METCO Coordinator, and Johnye Cole – Lexington Public Schools Director of Equity and Student Support

July 8, 2023 at 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM – 3^rd Annual Quock Walker Day Hike for Freedom

A Family Friendly Trail walk of 3.3 miles

July 8, 2023 at 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM –  3^rd Annual Quock Walker Day Community Celebration

This event is open to all and will run from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Upcoming events

April 22, 2023 at 8:00 PM Cary Lecture Series event at Cary Memorial Hall 1605 Mass Ave in Lexington- Safeguarding the Mental and Behavioral Health of a City – Dr. Kevin Simon

The final event in the 2022-2023 Cary Lecture Series. A compelling topic and best of all it’s free!

May 5, 2023 at 12:30 PM – ABCL First Friday Lunch at Via Lago

1845 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA 02420. Join us for lunch on the first Friday of each month

May 11, 2023 at 7:00 PM – ABCL Second Thursday Social at Burtons Grill

43 Middlesex Turnpike Unit 10B, Burlington, MA 01803. Join us on the second Thursday of each month

May 18, 2023 7:00 – 8:00 PM May business meeting

Canceled

May 21, 2023 at 2:00 – 4:00 PM “My American Story” – cosponsoring with CALex

ABCL is cosponsoring this event with CALex and others. This is the third event and it will be an in-person event on May 21 (Sunday) 2pm-4pm at the Lexington Depot.

May 27, 2023 Discovery Day

We will be representing at the annual Discovery Day. –

June 3, 2023 Black Music Month Benefit Concert – A Tribute to Florence Price

This event has been postponed until the fall of 2023

Click here to purchase tickets on Eventbrite

Association of Black Citizens of Lexington presents the Billy Kilson Quartet. Multiple Grammy award winning drummer, Billy Kilson headlines this celebration of Alan Dawson. Alan was a teacher who mentored and inspired Billy.

In addition to teaching at the Berklee College of Music, Billy tours internationally. He has performed with several famous musicians including Dave Holland, David Sanborn, Herbie Hancock, Ahmad Jamal, Ron Carter, Burt Bacharach, Glady’s Knight, Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Botti and Sting.

The Billy Kilson Jazz Quartet features Bill Pierce on Saxophone, Ron Mahdi on Bass, Russ Hoffman on Piano, and Billy Kilson on Drums. They will perform arrangements written by Alan Dawson and some favorites from Alan’s discography.

The Lexington High School Jazz Combo will open for the Billy Kilson Jazz Quartet.  Founded in 1984, the group has performed extensively all over the country and in Europe, including the Monterrey Jazz Festival, the Montreax Jazz Festival, the Jazz Educators Network Conference, and the Charles Mingus Jazz Festival in New York.  Honors include top prizes at the Mingus Festival, the UMass Jazz Festival and the UNH Jazz Festival

Don’t miss this spring’s must-attend jazz concert!

Pre-Concert Discussion at 6:30 with Billy Kilson and John Ramsay. John is the former head of percussion at The Berklee College of Music who studied with Alan Dawson, Max Roach, and Art Blakey. John has also written two books, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messages, and The Drummer’s Complete Vocabulary as Taught by Alan Dawson. John teaches in the Lexington home studio where Alan taught Billy and him.

Proceeds support ABCL scholarships.

Background on ABCL Black History Portrait Banner Honoree Alan Dawson
Alan Dawson was a legendary drummer and educator, known for his work with the top artists in jazz as well as for his 18-year association with Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr. Dawson’s teaching was inspirational.  One of Mr. Dawson’s first students was a young Boston drummer named Tony Williams. According to Mr. Williams, “Mr. Dawson didn’t only teach me to play the drums, he taught me how to conduct myself as a musician and as a man.”
Former student and 2021 NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington calls Mr. Dawson “one of the greatest drummers and one of the greatest teachers in the world”. Ms. Carrington is the Artistic Director and Founder of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice
Former student Osami Mizuno, a jazz drummer and educator from Japan, created and named a drum school and record label in honor of his drum instructor Alan Dawson.

Click HERE to purchase tickets

Saturday, January 14, 2023 from 10:30—11:30 AM

Living Room, Cary Memorial Library, 1874 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA, 02420

Find more information at A Storytelling in Honor of the Life and Legacy of the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr

Join renowned storyteller Valerie Tutson for a program honoring the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and the Civil Rights Movement. This family-friendly program will include songs (can’t do Civil Rights Movement without singing!) and stories of people who walked along side Dr King, who were inspired by and a part of the Movement, as well as a personal story Valerie calls “Carleen and Me and Dr King’s Dream,” which explores a personal story of an interracial friendship in the early days of school/neighborhood integration.

From the event held on January 4, 2023

Watch the recent “Association of Black Citizens of Lexington | Black History Portrait Banners Unveiling” on YouTube

January 15, 2023 at 2 PM MLK Day Concert & Scholarship Fundraiser – The music of the Civil Rights Movement

Follen Community Church, 755 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, MA 02420

Ticket – $25 general admission, proceeds support ABCL Scholarship Fund

Click here to purchase tickets

Be moved to build a better tomorrow by the songs of the civil rights movement which fueled the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr King was a civil rights icon who spoke at Lexington High School on February 11, 1963.

Narrator – Aniece Ragland Kerr, Lexington resident, native of Anniston, Alabama, and eyewitness to Civil Rights Movement

Music – Brother Dennis and Friends. Dennis L. Slaughter is founding director of the Boston Community Choir and artistic director of the Boston Pops Orchestra Gospel Choir.

Featured Soloist – Nalah Kasongo, LHS Class of 2023

April 2, 2023 Jazz Appreciation Month Benefit Concert – A Tribute to Alan Dawson

June 2023 Black Music Month Benefit Concert – A Tribute to Florence Price

Join the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington on Friday, July 8, 2022, for the 2nd Annual Quock Walker Day aka Massachusetts Emancipation Day Community Celebration.

This virtual event begins at 7 pm.

For more information and to register, Quock Walker Day Community Celebration – Friday, July 8, 2022 – Black Farmers Persevere

To join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82831721592?pwd=UllZamVJYy9OdkJQMVhHcEtMcDNGdz09

Passcode: 989224

Quock Walker Day celebrates the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision of July 8, 1783, that found a White enslaver guilty of assault on Quock Walker, a freedom seeking Black man, and agreed with Chief Justice Cushing that the ideas of slavery and perpetual servitude were incompatible with the state constitution.

The Quock Walker trials span from 1781 to 1783. In 1781 Quock Walker, a young man from Barre, MA and of Akan and/or Ewe lineage, filed a civil suit against Nathaniel Jennison for assault and battery.  Mr. Walker was found by the jury to be free and was awarded 50 pounds. Following appeals and a criminal case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found Jennison guilty of assault and agreed that the ideas of slavery and perpetual servitude were incompatible with the state constitution.

Mr. Walker’s fight through the legal system to safeguard his natural freedom resulted in the end of slavery in Massachusetts.

This year ABCL will celebrate the audacity of Quock Walker, the Black farmer, and explore the role that Black farmers continue to play in addressing racial disparities and providing food and income for their families.

Invited speakers include

• Massachusetts Emancipation Day aka Quock Walker Day Proclamation – Jill Hai, Lexington Select Board

• Harvest Poetry – Regie Gibson, Literary Performer

• Using Community Gardens for Subsistence Farming and to Grow Cash Crops – Victorine Nduku, Nurse and Farmer

• Continuing the Tradition of Black Farmers in the Northeast – Earl Ransom, 2^nd Generation Dairy Farmer, Strafford Organic Creamery at Rockbottom Farm

Hosted by the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington.

On Saturday, July 9, 2022, the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington (ABCL) is hosting the second annual Quock Walker Day Hike for Freedom.  This intergenerational event is an opportunity for Lexington residents and other friends of liberty to celebrate Massachusetts Emancipation Day while enjoying the sites along ACROSS Lexington Route M.  ACROSS Lexington Route M is an approximately 3.3-mile looped trail. The event will start at 8 am at Bowman Elementary School, 9 Philip Rd, Lexington, MA 02421. 

Quock Walker Day (also known as Massachusetts Emancipation Day) celebrates a historic court case won in 1783 by Quock Walker, a self-emancipated man who sued his enslaver for assault and battery. In winning the case, Chief Justice William Cushing not only granted Walker compensation, but also the assurance that slavery was incompatible with the state constitution.

Mr. Walker was a farm worker whose perseverance led to end of slavery in Massachusetts.  This year ABCL recognizes Quock Walker’s indomitable spirit and present-day Black Farmers who continue to persevere.

Participants may register online and in person between 7:30 and 9 am on July 9.  We encourage participants to register online by July 7, 2022, to guarantee receipt of a commemorative t-shirt.

ACROSS Lexington, a project of the Greenways Corridor Committee, is a network of marked trails and paths for walkers, runners, and trail bikers.  ABCL requests that participants practice “leave no trace” ethics by leaving the land in equal or better condition than you found it.  Participants are requested to remove and properly dispose of any waste that you generate.

Participants are responsible for bringing and using activity-appropriate equipment, (insect repellant, proper footwear, sufficient water, etc.), and for carrying the proper clothing (hat, rain gear, etc.).  Ticks and mosquitoes may be encountered along the trail.

Participants will have an opportunity to take a picture with the Quock Walker banner which is part of the Black History Project of Lexington.  Please upload photos of your experiences during Quock Walker Day Hike for Freedom on social media, #QWDHike4Freedom.