– Photos by Andrew Firestone

By Andrew Firestone

The American ideals of equality, progress and self-determination were celebrated Tuesday as Mayor Joseph Curtatone, joined by Somerville students and keynote speaker Robert Lewis Jr. of the Boston Foundation honored the life and accomplishments of civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been his eighty-second birthday.

In memory of King Somerville students put on a showcase to honor the progress that has been made in Somerville.

The keynote speech, delivered by Lewis, was a retrospective on the necessary virtues in today’s America. “I ask myself, am I willing to stand up for the rights of others, and to be a voice of change,” Lewis said. He exhorted students to take stock of “not where you stand in moments of comfort, but where you stand in times of controversy.”

Another group of young orators took the stage; second graders Kyla Cavanaugh, Alena Thalput, Shiv Rattan, Aidan Blum Levine, Max Scimemi, and Isaac Leib and fourth grader Mariah Ortega each gave their own vision of what American equality meant to them. Each was congratulated by Mayor Curtatone and given a citation for their ideas.

Dance performances included the Somerville High Dance Team and the Nepali dance group. Singers from the Argenziano Chorus and the Kennedy School Senior chorus performed spirituals as well.