LITTLE ROCK — Hundreds of parade-goers lined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in the state’s capital city Monday for a marade in honor of the slain civil rights leader.
The combination march and parade was among events held statewide in observance of the national Martin Luther King Day holiday, which falls on the third Monday in January. King’s birthday is Jan. 15. The holiday in Arkansas also is in observance of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s birthday.
The 28th annual marade ended at the state Capitol, where more than 200 people gathered for a commemoration ceremony under overcast skies.
Speakers at the ceremony addressed a variety of topics they said were related to King’s legacy, including immigration and economic disparity. The crowd included several members of the largely white protest group Occupy Little Rock, which has been camped out in a downtown Little Rock parking lot since October.
Juan Mendez of the Arkansas Coalition for DREAM spoke in support of the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, a bill to create a pathway to citizenship for some young immigrants. A statewide conference on the bill was taking place Monday at the nearby headquarters of the Arkansas Education Association.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“The fact that these students are earning every single bit that they will get with the DREAM Act does not make it a handout,” Mendez said. “Education is a right. These students know this, and everyone knows this.”
Joshua Haeber of Sheridan, an Iraq War veteran and member of Occupy Little Rock, said a form of slavery still exists.
“This generation is faced with a form of slavery and tyranny that is not based on the color of your skin or your gender or where you’re from. Ninety-nine percent of the world’s population is enslaved by financial powers and principalities of influence that continue their reign by working on the financial servitude of peoples and nations,” he said.
Marie Mainard O’Connell of Little Rock, also an Occupy Little Rock member, acknowledged that the local group is not racially diverse.
“We are in this town, if you saw us marching, unfortunately a little too white,” O’Connell told the crowd. “But diversity is what makes Occupy strong. We must overcome the systematic injustice and institutionalized racism that we marched against today.”
Community activist Annie Abrams, who founded the marade in the 1980s, said she knew some were “disturbed” by the presence of white Occupy Little Rock members, but she said she thanked God that they were there.
“If you’re being discriminated against because you’re white, because you’re Hispanic, because you’re Buddhist, because you’re a Jew, God is not pleased because he created us all,” she said.
Arkansas NAACP President Dale Charles introduced the speakers. Secretary of State Mark Martin attended but did not speak, as did some state legislators.
Several people who watched the parade held signs or wore buttons in support of President Obama.
Sheree Baker of Little Rock said she thinks that while King’s dream has not even been halfway fulfilled, the plight of blacks is better than in the past. Election of a black president was important, she said.
“The young black men, if they see somebody that’s doing better, I feel like they know that, ‘If I straighten myself and do what’s necessary, I can get to where I want to be. There is no limit to where I can go,’” Baker said.
King Day parades and marches also were held in Benton, Fayetteville, Hot Springs, Jonesboro and Pine Bluff.