Actress Octavia Spencer speaks during an event celebrating the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.at the Riverside Church in New York, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016.
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Many at a march reflected Monday about the civil rights leader and what he stood for.
“I definitely feel that the parade has grown over the years”.
Words they say are in harmony with Dr. King’s message. “Here in Ames, we have work to do; in Des Moines, we have work to do; we have work all over this country undone”.
Greene has been coming to the multicultural celebration for the last 15 years, and hopes Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud of where we are today, though she thinks Southwest Florida still has a long way to go. Some brought their grandchildren to help raise their awareness of how Dr. King’s actions impacted history. Boyd said that that is a reminder that this holiday involves the rights of all people.
Coinciding with the King holiday, African-American director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith said they would boycott next month’s Academy Awards ceremony because black actors had been shut out of the Oscar nominations for a second year in a row.
The festival included speeches, live entertainment, a kids’ zone, booths showcasing crafts, along with health and wellness, and of course, food.
President Barack Obama packed books for schoolchildren on Monday to commemorate slain civil rights leader the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., and King’s daughter said his dream of equality had yet to be realized.
“I wonder if Dr. King was with us today, what would he say about a nation in which the top one tenth of one percent own more wealth than the bottom 90%?”
Beja Turner, first vice president of United Black Students and the coordinator of “The Depths of a King”, said the gathering showed how the campus community both recognizes and wants to continue King’s legacy.
The city of Fort Myers came together at Centennial Park to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Something definitely we are going to learn is the risk they took and how important it is to people”, said Kassidy Schramm, 10th grade. She described how he stressed the importance of a peaceful dialogue between groups and believed with peaceful protest, the American people could move forward toward change and freedom.
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“It’s (racism) not something from the past and it’s not something from elsewhere, somewhere else, but it’s here and now and what can we do as an individual and as an institution?” says Marie Brunelle, St. FX human rights advisor.
