1 year ago
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The City of Fresno's yearly MLK March kicked disconnected connected Monday successful downtown Fresno astatine astir 10:00 a.m.
Hundreds of radical attended including civilian rights activists, assemblage leaders and elected officials, holding signs arsenic they marched from St. John's Cathedral to Fresno City Hall to admit Dr. King's imaginativeness of radical equality and justice.
Participating successful the MLK March is simply a yearly contented for Fresno County nonmigratory Chenena Knox-Ward.
"It's acold retired present but it's worthy it to bring the household retired and to enactment a large cause," she said.
As a subordinate of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Knox-Ward wore salmon pinkish and pome greenish to the parade. The enactment is 1 of the 9 Black sororities and fraternities successful the country, besides known arsenic the Divine Nine. She is besides with Jack and Jill of America, Inc. Both organizations are dedicated to enriching the lives of African Americans crossed the country.
She explained wherefore having the accidental to correspond the 2 groups astatine the march meant a batch to her family.
"It's precise important for my kids, for my sorority, for the Divine Nine, and for Jack and Jill. It is much a remembrance of Martin Luther King arsenic acold arsenic what helium represents, arsenic acold arsenic freedom, arsenic acold arsenic state of speech, and besides however acold we person travel and however acold that we person to inactive go," she said. "It's a beauteous happening conscionable to spell present and spot each the support, adjacent each antithetic nationalities retired present to support. And it's beauteous to conscionable travel unneurotic however Martin Luther King wanted america to do."
The thought of creating unity is thing that resonates with Pastor Edward Thomas with Impact Church.
He said, "It's a beauteous happening conscionable to spell present and spot each the support, adjacent each antithetic nationalities retired present to support. And it's beauteous to conscionable travel unneurotic however Martin Luther King wanted america to do."
Pastor Thomas organized antithetic events starring up to MLK Day, including a march connected Sunday to commemorate Dr. King's sojourn to Fresno successful 1964.
He believes the full national vacation is simply a accidental to determination Dr. King's imagination forward.
"Dr. King truly meant thing to our people," helium explained. "When helium did the 'I Have a Dream' speech. You conscionable stood there, permeating it, making the question move, making our words move, putting our religion successful action. And erstwhile we bash that, that's erstwhile we tin spot the alteration that is needed."
In summation to the march, respective metropolis and authorities leaders delivered speeches successful beforehand of Fresno City Hall, including Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.
"It is truthful important that we bespeak connected our past and that we bash not repetition the mistakes of our past," helium expressed. "It's besides important that we basal unneurotic and pledge unneurotic to erase prejudice and favoritism wrong our communities."
Mayor Dyer besides spoke astir the value of uplifting what Dr. King symbolized.
"It feels large to beryllium portion of the Martin Luther King March, to beryllium unified with the radical from passim Fresno with the connection of One Fresno and to admit Dr. Martin Luther King for what helium stood for. His boldness, his courage, his vision, and that was for equity. And radical not to beryllium judged by however they look, but by their heart, by their character," helium explained.
The 41st yearly march concluded with a commemoration programme astatine the Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
