United by MLK’s messages of justice, hundreds walk through Raleigh for 43rd annual march
At the 43rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial March Monday morning, about 400 people, clustered in the cold, walked the length of Fayetteville Street from the State Capitol to the Duke Energy Performing Arts Center.
The crowd danced and sang hymns like “This Little Light of Mine” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic” as participants reflected on King’s legacy and message.
While united behind the civil rights icon’s vision of equity and justice, participants cited different ways King’s words had shaped their personal experiences.
Shakema McClean, who works in disability advocacy, said she attended the event to promote King’s messages about inclusion. This is the ninth year she has joined the march.
“We’re trying to spread awareness that we need to be included as well,” McClean said.
Others, like Rocky Moon, said they attended the event to honor the history surrounding King’s remarkable life. Moon, who wheeled his two-year-old daughter in a wagon, said he wants to expose her to issues of race and civil rights.
“We want to start that process early as we have conversations about race and how people are treated,” he said.
Rhoderick Fleming, who has participated in the memorial for three years, said his reason for marching was simple:
“To show America that we still have a long way to go,” he said.
The march was organized by the Triangle Martin Luther King Jr. committee, which also organized an interfaith prayer breakfast in Durham that took place early Monday morning. Some notable North Carolinians held the banner in the front of the march, including Michael Morgan, an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, and Lucy Inman, a former North Carolina Court of Appeals judge.
Martin Luther King Jr. visited the Triangle several times during the civil rights era, the most notable of which involved a sit-in at a Greensboro Woolworth’s. He also spoke at Duke University and what is now North Carolina Central University.
Rania Masri, the co-director of the North Carolina Environmental Network, said King’s messages about justice and “full citizenship” speak to the unsafe environments many North Carolinians have faced because of their race. She cited issues of hog waste being sprayed in predominantly Black and brown communities.
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,” reads the N.C. Environmental Network’s website, quoting King.
Doctor Aal-Anubia said his favorite King quotes come from a lesser known speech about “life’s blueprint,” which encouraged people to achieve excellence and build a better and just world.
“Today showed people from all over coming together to work on ‘life’s blueprint,’” he said. “It’s like a choir: Everyone has a different voice, but they all come united together.”
Teddy Rosenbluth covers science and healthcare for The News & Observer in a position funded by Duke Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published January 16, 2023 at 1:40 PM.
