The nation will honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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But amid the festivity, a sense of frustration bubbled up because things haven’t improved more since King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech.
Growing up in Nigeria, he said, “From the time Martin Luther King was alive, I was a a schoolkid, I heard so much about him”.
“We’ve come a long way in the city of Austin”, Joe Deshotel, Communications Director for the Travis County Democratic Party said, “from a city less than a hundred years ago that was forced segregation across the city”.
“I have a right to vote”, said L. Micah O. Dexter, II, President of the Syracuse Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Volunteer Christopher Coleman said the event was an example of “bringing people of different backgrounds together to achieve a common goal”. “We can not forget this date…no matter where we are, what we’re doing”, said Harriet Mars Gray.
Eight high school students were recognized for their service to the community and presented with $500 scholarships.
The city also announced that Chicago’s Stone Temple Church, where King frequently preached, is up for landmark status.
Money for the scholarships was gathered at fundraisers, a raffle at the event and from sponsors. Several people who attended the ceremony want everyone to know that Doctor’s King’s holiday is more than just a day off from school or work. Instead of the state legislature calling the day for what it is, Martin Luther King Jr Day, they insisted that it be hyphenated or else they would not pass it.
U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Oroville, presented certificates of achievement to the scholarship recipients.
“Some of the violence that goes on here, it’s very sad that us blacks are killing each other the way they are”, she said.
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She even recalls her parents coming home bloodied and threatened by the Klu Klux Klan for their help for the Civil Rights movement.
