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01/06/2015 11:00 PMA nationally recognized leader for social justice, Reverend James Manship is sure to inspire as keynote speaker of this year's Martin Luther King Breakfast on Monday, Jan. 19.
The annual breakfast is expected to fill up quickly with attendees from across the shoreline. It's organized by a committee representing several Branford and shoreline interfaith organizations. The breakfast was founded by St. Stephen's AME Zion Church of Branford in 1985.
This year's breakfast is set for Jan. 19 at 8:30 a.m. at St. Therese Church, 105 Leetes Islands Road in Branford. In addition to hearing from Manship, Branford High School's choral group will perform as part of the morning's program. As always, proceeds from ticket sales ($10 each) will benefit local charities including fuel assistance programs. Last year's breakfast netted $2,653 for donations made to Community Dining Room and the Fuel Assistance Program in Branford, according to co-organizer Debbie Schaller.
"The theme for this year's breakfast is a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from a speech in Montgomery, Alabama, on Aug. 11, 1957: 'An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity,'" noted Schaller.
Manship has been pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church in New Haven since 2006 and has been an outspoken advocate for area minorities during his tenure. He most recently made national news in 2013 as a voice for East Haven's Latino population, from responding to the "taco" comments from the town's mayor to his efforts to document police behavior in East Haven, prompting federal action to investigate reported arrests involving racial profiling and unconstitutional conduct.
Working with Manship, St. Rose parish members also helped bring about New Haven's implementation of The Elm City Identification Card (2009) the nation's first municipal card to give the undocumented access to city and banking services. The parish also successfully helped bring about an unprecedented 2012 settlement made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for civil rights violations made during the 2007 New Haven immigration raids in which 11 men were arrested.
In his biography, Manship said he was introduced to Latino culture in seminary, with particular help from his summer internship at the parish of El Buen Pastor, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. He's also studied at the Spanish Institute of Puebla, Mexico, has traveled several times to Tlaxcala, and traveled extensively in Ecuador.
A Connecticut native, Manship presently co-chairs Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT) comprised of 27 dues-paying congregations and synagogues in New Haven and Fairfield counties. As a leading CONECT congregation, St. Rose of Lima led campaigns helped to bring about state legislation to give undocumented students access to in-state tuition rates for state universities and colleges (2011), and another law giving access to driver licenses for the undocumented immigrant (2013).
Manship was named 2011 New Haven Register Person of the Year and was honored in 2012 by the National Council of La Raza with the Graciela Olivarez La Raza Award for Social Justice (together with parish leader Angel Fernandez-Chavarro). In 2012, Manship and Fernadez-Chavarro were also recognized by the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New Haven as recipients of The Eisner Award for Community Service. Also in 2012, Manship was named National Association of Social Workers/CT Public Citizen of the Year.
Tickets, $10, for the Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast are available by calling Betty Ann Trapasso at 203-488-4163, John Ifkovic at 203-488-2120,or Mary Ann Pellegrino at 203-467-9180. A large crowd is expected; seating is limited to 200. Breakfast begins at 8:30 a.m.; an 8:15 a.m. arrival is recommended.