Tradition, pride drive MLK Jr. celebration

President Lee Todd leads the march holding a commemoration banner with other Lexington officials including Mayor Jim Newberry (center) for Martin Luther King, Jr. day in downtown Lexington on Jan. 18, 2010. Photo by Brandon Goodwin

By Brandon Goodwin

For most, Monday was a day without school or work. For Chinaecherem Omenyinma, it was a day for a new experience.

Members of the UK community joined with Lexington residents to march through downtown in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., and the event brought people from different lives, from different backgrounds and with different reasons for marching.

Omenyinma, a finance, accounting and decision science sophomore, was marching for the first time. As a member of the National Association of Black Accountants and the Black Student Union, he felt that King’s dream could be used as a road map for future generations to follow.

“I think it’s important to know the past, because if you never know where you came from, you’ll never know where you are going,” Omenyinma said. “This isn’t something that you should take lightly or push to the side, this is something that should be supported throughout the year.”

The march began Monday morning at Heritage Hall in the Lexington Convention Center. More than 30 groups, including UK’s Black Student Union and members of the Greek community, participated in the annual march.

Black Student Union Vice President Krissalyn Booth said the organization wanted to attend the event to represent the black community at UK.

“To me, it’s really out of respect for something higher than black students,” Booth, and English senior, said. “It’s representing change. It’s a love for diversity and it’s a love for my country.”

For agricultural economics senior Travis Darden, Monday marked his fourth time participating in the parade.

“Martin Luther King Jr. is a great man, and I want my own kids and grandkids to know and carry on this tradition,” he said.

Psychology senior and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Alaina Hancox marched out of tradition.

“It renews my spirit in social action and civil rights because that is what my organization is about, and for us to participate in something that is bigger than ourselves is always amazing,” she said. “We always like to participate in something that exemplifies what we stand for.”

To conclude the march, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College, America’s oldest black college for women, addressed concerns about economic poverty, particularly within the black community.

“President (Barack) Obama has certainly articulated an ambitious agenda for higher education, but how?” Malveaux said. “He raised the Pell grant from $4,800 to $5,350 (for the 2009-10 school year), and I’m grateful. But tuition plus room and board at Bennett College is $22,000. Where is that other $17,000 coming from?”

Malveaux also spoke of the overall importance of Monday’s holiday.

“Dr. King talked about the concept of ‘us,’ and it’s a concept that we long ago left behind,” she said. “I don’t know why we turned our back on that concept, but I know that this is a day once a year where we have the opportunity to reflect on who we are … and how we make this great nation better.”