2008 Woodie Awards
Walkers brave cold during third annual MLK Freedom Walk
Ryan Palencer
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: College News
Battling below freezing temperatures, approximately 250 people turned out to participate in the third annual Freedom Walk and the Keep the Dream Alive program on Jan. 21 in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"I don't think that it matters how cold that it is," said Betty Shaw, a participant in the walk. "This is the Freedom March, or a replica of the Freedom March. I think that snow could be up to [my head] and we would still do it."
Larry Jimerson, another participant in the walk, agreed with Shaw's outlook, and looked to history for his motivation.
"All I had to do was face the cold," Jimerson said. "But 40 years ago, if King and them were going to get up and do a march, they would have a lot more challenges than just the cold."
The walk left the front doors of the Indianapolis Urban League at 12 p.m. and proceeded down Indiana Avenue to the Madame Walker Theater, where the celebration began at 12:15 p.m. The program included speeches and musical and dance performances.
However, the freezing two-tenths of a mile walk was not the important aspect for the participants. Rather, it was the celebration of history and progress made.
Jimerson remembers when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was not celebrated while he attended Park Tudor High School. After it became a federal holiday, the school chose not to close. He recalls marching in protest. Jimerson later graduated from Ben Davis High School and got a degree from IUPUI.
To Glenda Black, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is more than just another holiday. Black was born in the 1940s and attended Crispus Attucks High School, a segregated school, during the Civil Rights Movement.
"In your lifetime, when you can remember not being able to sit anywhere you want to sit on public transportation, or even go into the grocery store, or eat a meal," Black said. "To know that during that lifetime, things have changed. There has been great improvement. It has come so far from where it was in the '60s. It is a time for celebration and to remember (King)."
Black also believes that it is the responsibility of her generation to pass King's history on to future generations.
"It's up to people in my age bracket to pass it on, just like the generation before me passed on things," Black said. "It's no longer a color barrier, it's a history. To me, it's very moving to see that people are very much aware and they're following, not just out of curiosity, but out of the need to learn and know."
The original Freedom March occurred on Aug. 28, 1963, when 200,000 demonstrators took part in a march to Washington D.C. for equality in jobs and freedom. The March prompted King's 'I Have a Dream' speech.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday in 1986 after Ronald Reagan signed it into law.
"I don't think that it matters how cold that it is," said Betty Shaw, a participant in the walk. "This is the Freedom March, or a replica of the Freedom March. I think that snow could be up to [my head] and we would still do it."
Larry Jimerson, another participant in the walk, agreed with Shaw's outlook, and looked to history for his motivation.
"All I had to do was face the cold," Jimerson said. "But 40 years ago, if King and them were going to get up and do a march, they would have a lot more challenges than just the cold."
The walk left the front doors of the Indianapolis Urban League at 12 p.m. and proceeded down Indiana Avenue to the Madame Walker Theater, where the celebration began at 12:15 p.m. The program included speeches and musical and dance performances.
However, the freezing two-tenths of a mile walk was not the important aspect for the participants. Rather, it was the celebration of history and progress made.
Jimerson remembers when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was not celebrated while he attended Park Tudor High School. After it became a federal holiday, the school chose not to close. He recalls marching in protest. Jimerson later graduated from Ben Davis High School and got a degree from IUPUI.
To Glenda Black, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is more than just another holiday. Black was born in the 1940s and attended Crispus Attucks High School, a segregated school, during the Civil Rights Movement.
"In your lifetime, when you can remember not being able to sit anywhere you want to sit on public transportation, or even go into the grocery store, or eat a meal," Black said. "To know that during that lifetime, things have changed. There has been great improvement. It has come so far from where it was in the '60s. It is a time for celebration and to remember (King)."
Black also believes that it is the responsibility of her generation to pass King's history on to future generations.
"It's up to people in my age bracket to pass it on, just like the generation before me passed on things," Black said. "It's no longer a color barrier, it's a history. To me, it's very moving to see that people are very much aware and they're following, not just out of curiosity, but out of the need to learn and know."
The original Freedom March occurred on Aug. 28, 1963, when 200,000 demonstrators took part in a march to Washington D.C. for equality in jobs and freedom. The March prompted King's 'I Have a Dream' speech.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday in 1986 after Ronald Reagan signed it into law.
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