Posted on 01/18/2005 5:49:05 AM PST by Theodore R.
Residents honor King
By Kelly Milner rep7@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE - For Jerome Hairston, Martin Luther King Jr. Day means everything.
A sixth-grader at Pioneer Park Elementary, Hairston said his mother is white, and his father is black.
"If it weren't for Dr. King and what he did, I wouldn't be here right now," he said. "My mom is cool, and my dad is cool; it would be a shame if they couldn't be together."
Hairston was a speaker Monday at the 23rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day March here.
Around 800 people marched from the former Union Pacific depot to the state Capitol, many singing the civil rights song "We Shall Overcome."
The event is sponsored by the Love and Charity Club Inc. The club also has created the "Living A Dream" essay contest. Hairston was one of the winners.
The contest is open to any Wyoming student from first through 12th grade. The winners are given a $50 savings bond.
Love and Charity Club member Rita Watson said reading the essays renewed her confidence in Wyoming's children and their ability to lead the state and country.
Watson said they were all marching Monday for justice, equality for all, peace and racial and religious harmony.
King changed the consciousness of the nation with his message of love, justice and equality, she said.
"We honor him today and still mourn for his loss," she said. "Life is indeed better because of (King's) legacy; if he had not opened the doors, they would likely remain closed."
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39. He would have turned 76 Saturday.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal said many consider the third Monday of January to be a day off to shop, relax and recreate.
"I think it needs to be a day on," Freudenthal said. "This needs to be a day on our feet, a day on the battlefront, a day to make this a better state."
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Trent Blankenship said King was radically uncompromising about love and relentless in his refusal to hate others.
As the message of King's love was shared, some audience members were moved to their own acts of kindness.
Former City Councilman C.J. Brown gave his winter coat to shivering student without one. Brown was wearing a T-shirt. A short time later, Blankenship gave Brown his coat, saying that he had two coats.
Cheyenne residents Mary Tyler and Abe Stevenson said the day refocuses everyone's mind on how far civil rights has come. Both grew up in the South during the civil rights movement.
Stevenson remembers the segregated schools, standing in the back of the bus and the fact that there were no hotels black people could stay at.
"If you were traveling, you had to just keep driving," he said.
Tyler, 72, said children have to hear their stories and learn about what happened, or its importance could grow faint.
"If it's not alive for the kids, they won't have any idea what civil rights was about," Stevenson said. "We tell our children and grandchildren about it; we tell it just like it was."
Hairston said it was great to take part in a day that means so much to him.
"Today, I celebrate, not his death, but his life," he said.
Theodore R., Thanks for your recent posts. It's good to see you on the job. Hope things are going well for you and yours. Charlie
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