|
|
| |
| Sat, Sep. 6, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Hundreds observe King holiday at Capitol Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Hundreds braved a near-freezing temperatures and bone-chilling wind Monday to observe the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with a parade and program. The commemoration, in its 25th year, took on a political flair at the state Capitol, where signs for Democratic presidential rivals, Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., were prominent during a holiday program that featured songs, poetry and prayers. During the annual "marade" - a combination march and parade commemorating the slain civil rights leader's birthday - Little Rock resident Darrell Stephens pulled a float loaded with children and adults waving Obama signs. "Barack Obama stands on civil rights," Stephens said. "That's the guy I'm riding with." His was among 98 entries in the parade. The day seemed a little more significant, Stephens said, because the diversity of this year's top-tier presidential candidates, including a black man, a woman and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, shows King's vision is coming to fruition. Two people sitting in the bed of a pickup truck farther back in the parade waved signs in support of Clinton, Arkansas' former first lady. A poem read by a local poet at the Capitol ceremony drew cheers when it mentioned a black child growing up to become president of the United States. Dale Charles of Little Rock, president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP, said Obama's serious shot at the presidency shows the country is beginning to realize King's dream of equality for all. "We've had other (black) candidates run for president, but this year we have a very viable candidate that many people in this country and this state are proud of," Charles said. "I think we are beginning to realize that people are looking at people now by their character, not the color of their skin." Still, Fitz Hill, president of Arkansas Baptist College and the marade's grand marshal, said in his keynote address that the black community must remain vigilant and also must take advantage of the opportunities King helped make available. "How can you relax when 60 percent of the prison population are men who look like me?" said Hill, who is black. Improving literacy rates is also necessary, Hill said. "We can't blame anybody else," he said. "Oh yeah, there's racism, there's discrimination. But I know God can overcome everything, and we have the opportunity to do anything." Barely more than 100 people attended the program at the Capitol. Longtime civil rights activist Annie Abrams said she was disappointed by the turnout, even though it was held outside on an overcast day in a chilling wind with temperatures in the 30s. "People are enjoying this day," said Abrams, who escorted King decades ago during a trip to the state capitol. "They're off, not understanding, but the bottom line is ... that America said, 'We will shut down our country ... and make sure that we will say (King's) message was right and this message will free us all." The Little Rock observance was among several held statewide. In Texarkana, Gov. Mike Beebe attended church services memorializing King. The governor later appeared in a King holiday parade in Benton. Hundreds of people participated in the Thousand-Man March across the Mississippi River bridge from Memphis to the West Memphis Police Department to bring attention to the case of 12-year-old DeAuntae Farrow, a black West Memphis boy shot and killed by a white city police officer. Monday night, a candlelight vigil honoring King was scheduled at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and Ohio University President Roderick McDavis was to speak about King at a speech in Fayetteville. |
