Long Live the King

This weekend I spoke to a pre-K teacher who said she was struggling to teach her students about Dr. King. The 4-year olds just couldn’t understand how there ever existed a time in which they wouldn’t have been allowed to play together. To me, their innocent naivety speaks volumes to King’s legacy. Because of his work cities like Austin exist, where people of different walks of life are free to mix and mingle with one another.

Today the city of Austin came together to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I gathered with hundreds of others at the steps of the capital building to attend the service. After an enthusiastic opening from the Austin Coalition Church Drill Team, Pastor Gaylon Clark of Greater Mount Zion led the crowd in prayer, followed by a performance from the Greater Mount Zion choir. You could feel the sense of togetherness throughout the crowd as Pastor Clark called upon us all to join our hands in prayer. I joined hands with a black woman to my left and a white woman to my right while others did the same. I watched as people of different races swayed to the sounds of the choir and lifted their hands in unison at the urging of the lead singer.

Afterwards everyone marched toward Congress then fittingly down Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to Huston-Tillotson University where the celebration continued. It was refreshing to see so many people come together as a community, just as King dreamed of all those years ago. Without his life work, I wouldn’t be in the position that I am in today and for that I am truly thankful. Today marks the 29 ^th year of observing the holiday which began in 1983, 15 years after King’s assassination.