NAACP President Cliff Monteiro, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, Superior Court Judge O. Rogiree Thompson and Teny Gross, executive director of the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence
Mayor David N. Cicilline has inducted three Providence community leaders into the 7th annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hall of Fame. The ceremony recognized Superior Court Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson, Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence Executive Director Teny Gross and President of the NAACP Cliff Montiero for their efforts to advance civil rights in our community. Providence is the only city in the nation with an official MLK Hall of Fame.
Mayor Cicilline established the Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. Hall of Fame in 2003 on the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington to honor individuals who are carrying on Dr. King’s legacy by making substantial contributions to acceptance, social justice, civil rights and equality. The honorees were presented with engraved crystal bowls and their names will be permanently inscribed on a brass plaque in Providence City Hall. The plaque includes a quote by Dr. King: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Superior Court Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson was recently nominated by President Barack Obama to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
She has had a lengthy and prestigious career in the practice of law, serving early on as a staff attorney at Rhode Island Legal Services as a Haber Smith Fellow, subsequently as a practitioner in partnership with her sister focusing on Native American Law, civil rights and family law, and later as a member of the City of Providence Law Department. Thompson’s expertise quickly earned her a place in Rhode Island’s Judiciary as Rhode Island’s first African-American woman District Court Justice and was within a decade elevated to the Rhode Island Superior Court bench, again, as the first African-American woman to serve in that capacity.Teny Gross is the founder and executive director of the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence. A former Israeli soldier, he understands from first-hand experience the devastation of war, in a place where terrorism remains an everyday part of life. He was a Boston Streetworker in the early 1990s and a living testament to Dr. King’s philosophy of “attacking forces of evil, not persons doing evil.” With the help of two members of the clergy in South Providence, Gross launched Providence’s response to youth violence in 2000 with the creation of the Institute. Under his leadership, the Institute has grown into a critically important organization that focuses on building hope and saving young lives through a variety of initiatives including Streetworkers, nonviolence education, victim support services, job training and juvenile reentry programs.
Cliff Monteiro has been a civil rights advocate and courageous leader in the movement to guarantee all men and women equal rights and opportunities. He has served in critical leadership positions in the Rhoe Island Congress of Racial Equality and was a cofounder of the Opportunities Industrialization Center of Rhode Isand. In addition to his current role as president of the NAACP, Montiero has also had a long and distinguished career in law enforcement. He has earned the deep respect of many for his fierce advocacy of civil rights, which includes participation in marches organized and led by the late Dr. King.
The MLK Hall of Fame program also included remarks by Tricia Rose, PhD, a professor of Africana Studies at Brown University; a reading from the speeches of Dr. King by Joe Wilson, Jr.; and a musical performance by RPM Voices.
Comments