General Membership Meeting – with special guest Leigh Davis, newly elected State Representative for the 3rd Berkshire District – “My Family and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday in the United States, is a testament to the perseverance of those who fought for its establishment. Observed on the third Monday of January each year since 1986, the journey to make Dr. King’s birthday a federal holiday was a protracted battle. It began in the year of his death in 1968 and was championed by labor unions, civil rights organizations, and national legislators, including Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke, a Black Republican.
Individuals like Representative Davis’ father, Lloyd Davis, bring a personal dimension to the significance of this holiday. Mr. Davis, through his work with the widow of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., played a pivotal role in building the King Center and establishing the holiday honoring Dr. King. His connection to the cause underscores the importance of this holiday to all of us.
He started work at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change around 1980 as executive vice president and chief operating officer, working alongside Coretta Scott King to maintain her husband’s legacy. Later, he was executive director of the federal King Holiday Commission, a body established to promote, oversee, and raise money for the observance of Dr. King’s birthday as a federal holiday. It was officially celebrated for the first time at the federal level on Jan. 20, 1986. As the commission’s executive director, Mr. Davis worked to make the holiday legally observed in all 50 states.
Please join us as Representative Davis reminisces about her father and his work with Mrs. King to make Dr. King’s holiday a reality.
We will also discuss branch business. Members will receive the zoom link kby email; if you are not a member and wish to attend send an email request to naacpberkshirecount@gmail.com
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About Our Guest:
Leigh Davis, the State Representative-elect for the 3rd Berkshire District, is an advocate for affordable housing, accessible education and healthcare, and protecting the environment. She is a fighter for working families, veterans, seniors, small businesses and farms, and historically vulnerable and underserved communities. A staunch supporter of unions and workers, Leigh served as a proud member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG), IATSE Local 700, and The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI).
A former film and television editor in Los Angeles, tenured lecturer, and Department Chair of the Film and Television program at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland, Leigh relocated to Great Barrington with her three children in 2009. She enrolled them in Berkshire Hills public schools and started volunteering for local groups, including HospiceCare in the Berkshires, Volunteers in Medicine, People’s Pantry, and Great Barrington Land Conservancy.
Leigh has served on the Development Committee of Volunteers in Medicine, was appointed to the Board of Directors for Saint James Place, and worked as the Marketing Director for the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. In 2018, she became the Director of Development for Eagle Mill in the Town of Lee, where she played a key role in the $80 million revitalization of the historic 1808 paper mill. In this capacity, she successfully secured millions in federal and state funding, along with historic tax credits, for this transformative mixed-use project. Leigh’s career in local politics began on the Great Barrington Finance Committee in 2013, followed by election to the Great Barrington Selectboard in 2019. She was appointed Vice Chair of the Economic Development Committee in 2020, serving in that role for two years. Currently serving her fourth year as Vice Chair of the Great Barrington Selectboard, Leigh is also Chair of the Selectboard & Planning Board Housing Subcommittee, sits on the Lake Mansfield Improvement Task Force and Community Preservation Committee, and serves as the Selectboard liaison to the W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Committee. In addition to her full-time role, Leigh is a Board Director at 1Berkshire and was appointed shortly after that to the Berkshire Blueprint 2.0 Advisory Council and Berkshire Leadership Impact Council, tasked with guiding the region’s ambitious ten-year strategic roadmap.
