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Increasing youth opportunity, reducing inequity discussed at MLK breakfast

Four adults and a teen pose together at a charity breakfast in a hotel ballroomRob Watson Jr. recalled the unique opportunities he had growing up in Poughkeepsie.

Roughly 25 years ago, he told the crowd assembled to celebrate the 34th Catharine Street Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast Friday morning, he watched James Earl Jones perform a play at the Bardavon Opera House Watson wrote in the sixth grade through the young playwrights program.

“He had acted a scene from my early adolescence, where I had the opportunity to meet Coretta Scott King at Marist College,” the 2005 Poughkeepsie High School graduate said. “This world-class experience had a lasting impact on my identity and who I aspired to become.”

Such experiences, though, have often not been available to every young resident of the City of Poughkeepsie. Inequities within the community have contributed to some feeling “trapped in the quicksand of hopelessness,” and must be rectified.

We must shift “from a mental model of only celebrating young people who beat the odds to changing the odds, so every young person has what they need to succeed in school and life.”

Rob Watson Jr. receives a standing ovation after his keynote address at the annual Catharine Street MLK That’s the mission of the Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet, of which Watson is a co-founder, and the message of building a better future was fitting for an annual event celebrating the life and spirit of Dr. King.

The annual breakfast put on by the Catharine Street Center since 1992 honors community members and organizations that embody the messages of Dr. King and highlights the accomplishments of the community’s youth.

Will Matias, a Poughkeepsie High School Senior, was one of four youth honorees and was awarded an MLK Scholarship for $2,000 toward college.

Matias thanked his family, especially his mother, for their support and belief in him, as well as that offered by the school community, highlighting math teacher Katie Livermore and College and Workforce Readiness Counselor Kelly Semexant.

“As Dr. King once said, ‘Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase,’” he said in his speech. “As I prepare for my future in college, I carry these words with me knowing that every step I take brings me closer to my dreams.”

A National Honor Society Member and a standout for the Pioneers baseball team, Matias said he was proud to have been selected for the award, calling the experience “amazing.”

Will Matias speaks as one of four youth honorees.He was actually one of at least three youth honorees from Poughkeepsie High School in attendance at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Friday morning. Rashad Ricketts, a 2014 honoree and financial analyst who sits on the Catharine Street board, introduced Watson, a 2005 honoree.

Watson called it a “full circle moment” to be speaking at the breakfast. He used the idea of “homecoming” throughout his speech to discuss both feelings of nostalgia and the imperative to improve upon the aspects of the past that need to be addressed. It’s what led Watson, the executive director of the Harvard EdRedesign lab, to want to reconnect with his community and help form the Children’s Cabinet.

He rattled off a lengthy list of civic, community and school leaders who aligned under that same goal, many of whom “inspired him” through the steps they were already taking.

“The endgame wasn’t about getting out of the hood, it was about transforming it,” Watson said. “None of us have to make the false choice between moving on from where we’re from and going off to engage with the world.”

Watson quoted Dr. King in speaking about how everyone in the community can do more to create a better future. “‘We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now,’” he quoted. “In this room, we have the collective wisdom and firepower needed to make the mid-Hudson Valley, the City of Poughkeepsie, a national model for social transformation.”