In Plymouth, Vedna Heywood is a third term School Committee Member, past Chairperson of the No Place for Hate Committee, a candidate for the Select Board in 2021—an election she lost in a very close vote. Professionally, she works as a surgical burn trauma nurse at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and she is wife to husband Jim and Mom to son James. Vedna is a self-described Black immigrant who says Martin Luther King, Jr. and the celebration of his legacy resonates deeply on several levels.
WATD’s Bobbi Clark has more…
Vedna Heywood says the significance of Martin Luther King…
“…just in terms of his work, his legacy, is monumental in my life. I wouldn’t be here had it not been for his work, and the work of many others in the civil rights movement. I would not have had the ability to be a 3rd term School Committee member or even run for an office. I wouldn’t have the ability to work in an integrated unit as a surgical burn trauma nurse in a major hospital in the United States.”
And, Heywood, speaks of Dr. King’s willingness to…
“…sacrifice his time, his comfort, his personal safety in order to move forward something that would allow all of us as a society to live together to recognize each other as human beings-period.”
Heywood says further that, Dr. King’s work…
“…is the work that allows me, as a person of color, me, as a woman, to be part of an integrated society—and so that is what this day means to me.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January, which this year, is January 20th.
In Plymouth, Bobbi Clark, WATD News.
