When Sudi Lett stepped to the podium at Saint Anselm College’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Dinner, he carried with him a lifetime of obstacles and accomplishments to share with the students, faculty, staff and community members who gathered that evening.
A graduate of Manchester Central High School, Lett had been the first African-American who was elected as Student Council president. He went on to earn a BA in accounting from the historic HBCU Tuskegee University and later helped establish the Bishop Elite basketball program, which produced hundreds of college students and athletes at the DI, DII, and DIII level and the only NBA basketball player from Manchester, N.H.
But Lett’s triumphs were not the focus of his remarks. Instead, he shared the details of his life journey to overcome the challenges he has faced.
“It really takes courage to do the right thing,” he said. “Doing the right thing can bankrupt you. Doing the right thing can have people destroy your reputation. Doing the right thing can ostracize you from family. Doing the right thing can take away a lot of the protection and a lot of the comfort that we have. But I'm here to tell you all something that you all know, doing the right thing is how we got to this room today.”
The theme of this year’s MLK Dinner was “Infinite Hope,” based on King’s hopeful vision for the future: “On the one hand we must accept the finite disappointment, but in spite of this we must maintain the infinite hope.”
Lett, a husband and father of two, moved with his family to Manchester, N.H., when he was 8 years old. Today, he is the director of Youth and Education at The Granite State Organizing Project. The group has succeeded in efforts to add a student representative to the Manchester School Board, in creating learning hubs for in-person learning during the pandemic, and most recently working to help create the first-ever African American studies class taught in the New Hampshire public schools.
“We have so much further to go, and we won't be able to get there if we stand on the sidelines and we're too scared to get involved. ‘Infinite Hope’ without a plan won't work. Regular hope without a plan won't work,” he said. “And I'm hopeful that we can all make a plan when we leave today. That doesn't mean it has to be together. It could be by yourself, with yourself, and I'm hopeful you'll make a plan to use whatever interest you have so that you can be the difference.”
The annual dinner was held on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. The evening was sponsored by the Center for Intercultural Learning and Inclusion, Campus Ministry, and the Multicultural Student Coalition.
In addition to Lett’s remarks, several students recited poems and readings while others sang songs. Lia Caines ’27 read “The Cure for What Ails You” by Cameron Awkward-Rich; Israel Small ’26 read from MLK’s “Sermon on Shattered Dreams” and Billy Karugira ’25 recited “I, Too” by Langston Hughes. Duke Ady ’27 sang “We Shall Overcome” and Angelka Mouete ’28 sang “Way Maker.
Another highlight of the night was the awarding of the social justice awards, which were presented to Israel Small ’26 and Education Professor Aubrey Scheopner Torres, Ph.D.
College President Joseph A. Favazza Ph.D., who was a young man growing up in Memphis when King was assassinated, offered thoughts on the theme of “Infinite Hope.”
“I can say to you that we here at Saint Anselm will continue to fight for a better tomorrow, and we'll continue to fight for those in our community who feel marginalized or threatened or feel like there can be no hope or no future that they can be a part of,” he said. “To borrow a sentiment shared recently by James Birge, president of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, it’s important that everyone in this community belongs in such a way that they can be themselves, they can see themselves, and that they can be the best versions of themselves.
“So as we celebrate this great, great memory of Martin Luther King, his accomplishments, his infinite hope. Let us be inspired to continue to have hope, no matter how dark it looks, because in the end, again, the arc of history will indeed bend towards justice.”
Across the country, annual MLK dinners have been inspired by the planned visit by King to a local pastor on April 4, 1968 for a meal that never happened. The college’s dinner was catered by Jerry Victor, executive chef of HomeStyle Catering in Nashua, N.H., with food prepared in the spirit of “The Meal that Never Was,” using his Haitian, Caribbean, and French ancestry for the menu’s inspiration.
The emcee was Paige Potts ’27 and closing remarks were given by Siri Dabbi, assistant director of the Intercultural Center. Fr. Francis McCarty, O.S.B. ’10 offered a blessing prior to the dinner.
