The theme for this year was “One Man’s Dream, A World of Change.” Shortly before the march started, Cadiz City Council Member Regina Wilkerson Jasper spoke about what Martin Luther King Day means, and why she and others still march.
“We’re here to celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Jasper. “He helped many people, and in addition to this, he was a loving husband and father who spoke up for the rights of minorities until his untimely death … in 1968.”
King, Jasper said, was inspired by the nonviolent protest methods used by Mohandas Gandhi as well as his own Christian upbringing to challenge segregation laws, and thanks to the efforts of King and countless others, African-Americans are no longer second-class citizens.
Jasper said that difficult times call for people to work together. “His dream requires unity among all people, especially in hard times such as we are experiencing right now. We are in a recession,” Jasper said. “We should be breaking bread together.”
The march began at the Family Resource Center, down Main Street, past the Cadiz Police Station, up Jefferson Street to Bloomfield Baptist Church, where marchers as well as others converged and a local choir played.
(For the rest of the story, check out this week's edition of the Cadiz Record.)
