This commemorative address would be given at a MLK Day remembrance and community service event hosted by City Year New York. The audience for the event would be current Americorps members working with City Year, alumni from the program and other volunteers.
“Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” This line famously said by Dr. Martin Luther King will be widely quoted today across the country at events similar to this one. MLK Day has been dubbed “a day on, not a day off” and a national day of service. This day and this event is one of my favorite days of the year. This event embodies what City Year does best. Today we bring together a group of people, that otherwise may not have crossed paths, and we unite for a common purpose. That purpose can be best described by one of City Year’s organizational values, a value that is inspired by the work and legacy of Dr. King. That value is summed up in the phrase: service to a cause greater than self.
As we come together today to participate in service projects in this community, I think this is the value to keep in mind. Today is not about each individual person here and what we can accomplish alone. It is not about the things that make us different. Today is about uniting in service. Today is about honoring the work of those that came before us. Today is about those that embodied the value of service to a cause greater than self.
For the City Year community, MLK Day is about more than honoring Dr. King and his life’s work. For the past several years, MLK Day has become an opportunity to come together, to honor, to remember members of the City Year community that are no longer with us. To serve in honor of those who proudly wore red jackets and made better happen in this city.
In the 2010-2011 academic year, I was a relatively new manager at City Year. It was my job to lead, manage, coach and inspire 23 recent high school and college graduates throughout their year of service in New York City public schools. My job was to be in service to them. Their job was to be in service to their kids. I was supposed to teach them how to do their jobs. As is often the case, they wound up teaching me more about how to do my job.
Emerald Padilla was one of my 23 Americorps members. For all of the corps members and alumni here today, you would have liked her a lot. The best way that I can describe her is relatable. She was a real corps member.
First and foremost, she was fiercely dedicated to her 5th grade students. They were her cause. They were why she got up in the morning and trekked from Brooklyn to the Bronx. They kept her going when she was annoyed by a teammate or with me or with a City Year rule or policy. Their successes were her successes. Their mistakes and challenges went home with her from the Bronx to Brooklyn every night. She was not afraid to push them to be better. Low expectations were not how she operated.
Emerald was part of so many “City Year” friendships both on her team and throughout the corps. You all know the kind of relationships I’m talking about. That person or people that you are pretty sure you would never have crossed paths with in any other walk of life. That person that you really don’t think you have anything in common with. Except now they are on your City Year team. And you spend 12 hours a day with them. For 5 days a week. And you talk to them more than you talk to your family. And they know the ins and outs of your day. And your bodega order. And how much you care about your students, your school, your community and your service. And they become part of your service. They become part of your cause. Because you couldn’t do this without them. And they make you better. They help you make better happen.
Emerald was a key part of those kinds of friendships. The kinds of friendships that continue after you hang up your red jacket at the end the year.
Like her friendships, Emerald’s service did not end with City Year. She spent the year studying for the LSATS, convinced that law school was her next stop. But over the course of the year, direct service got to her. It became her cause. She moved back to her home state of North Carolina and starting working for an organization combating hunger and homelessness. She was set to go back to school in the fall of 2012 pursuing a graduate degree in social work. She was not done with service. This was to be her next cause. But she was taken from her service too soon.
On Dec 27, 2011, at age 24, Emerald was killed in a single car accident near her home in North Carolina.
As the news of her death rippled out through the City Year alumni community, I prepared to call her family to express my condolences. When I identified myself to her mother, she said, “I’ve been expecting your call”. The family wanted to come to New York for the MLK Day of service. They had made the trip the previous year to serve with Emerald. This is how they wanted to honor and remember their daughter. City Year changed her life. It meant more to her than you’ll ever know. She would want us to do this.
We were honored and humbled to host her family. They served alongside corps members and alumni. We shared stories, we shared laughter and we shared tears.
That year we began the tradition of corps members and alumni wearing green “Emerald” ribbons on MLK Day. It started as a tribute to her and her family. It has developed into a larger symbol of honor and remembrance for all of the members of our alumni community that have been taken from their service too soon. Their memory has become part of our cause in service.
As you wear your Emerald ribbons today and come together in service, I would ask you to take a few minutes to reflect. Take a moment to reflect on your service. Take a moment to think about your cause.
I learned a tremendous amount in the time I got to spend with Emerald. My hope is this I taught her a few things. I know that the lessons I took from her have made me better.
When you find your cause, go after it with a fierce passion. Be that advocate that expects the best of the students you are serving. Don’t forget about the people around you. Invest in those relationships. Seek out your teammate who seems so different from you. Take advantage of spending time with them. Learn from each other. Make each other better. Help each other make better happen.