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BEYOND THE CHAIR EDITION: VOL 2, ISSUE 2
LET US BE CHANGE AGENTS
IC YMI
WOMAN ON FIRE
Dr. Karissa Culbreath was keynote speaker at this year’s MLK breakfast and she lit the room on fire. The audience was truly ignited by her passion and forthrightness. Woe to those who had to follow her! By her own admission, her time at the mic was “a full realization of all of the parts of myself,” like an anthem or thesis of her work. She wanted the breakfast guests to “really think about what it takes to make a healthy and vibrant community.” That starts with rethinking health equity in every single area of our lives; redefining what a healthy community looks like; and “working in all the systems to make sure that we can achieve that.” Born and raised here in Albuquerque, Culbreath got her undergraduate degree—and her husband
Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, and Sheriff John Allen on the dais. John Rencher, attending for the first time, appreciated the chance to network, noting, “Gatherings like these are important, especially in New Mexico, because for an underrepresented community like ours, it’s imperative to stay united, and it makes me want to be more involved in helping the community flourish.” And Africana Studies Professor Marsha Hardeman was part of the morning’s resounding choir and spoke to Black history’s importance, stating, “We have so much more to learn about our forebears, and should honor them, continually, to do justice to their posterity and our collective legacy as a Black people, strong, unsinkable, and ever-victorious in our faith and hope for a righteous justice.”
THE SERMON THAT BLEW THE ROOF OFF THE BREAKFAST Brian—at Fisk University, then earned her PhD in microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt. She wears a few hats: as medical director for infectious disease at TriCore; as associate pastor at New Covenant Worship Center in Rio Rancho; and as that city’s first Black city councilor. Her children are her biggest influence because they catalyze change in her and light that fire we all saw at breakfast. They awaken her curiosity, which is necessary right now, “because all of these issues we’re facing are not that new.” Culbreath believes we have to stand up and say, “We must be counted, we will be counted.” Black folk make significant impacts in this community and are not, she argues, “statistically insignificant.”
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It’s a venerable annual tradition for Black New Mexicans to come together for the Dr. King Commemorative Celebration. Organized by the Grant Chapel AME Church, the breakfast was super charged this year as its speakers encouraged us all to seek justice, equity, and community. Keynote speaker Dr. Karissa Culbreath’s sermon delivered a rallying cry of solidarity and perseverance. Rep. Pamelya Herndon was pleased with this year’s sold-out event, saying, “Every person should aspire to be the change agent Dr. Culbreath described. She inspired me to remember not to dwell on problems, but to focus on a plan that leads to change.” Grant Chapel’s Vision ABQ scholarships were given out to students who briefly joined Mayor Tim Keller, Judge Shammara Henderson,
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THE ANNUAL MLK BREAKFAST STIRRED GUESTS INTO ACTION