At Lyles Mall on 28th and West Broadway, men spent Monday morning shoveling snow from the parking lot to clear space for the cars that were due to be decorated for the annual MLK Motorcade and Rally.
Women and children stood by with brightly colored “Happy Birthday” banners and cardboard cutouts of Martin Luther King Jr., which -- once the snow was cleared -- they began taping to the car doors and trunks.
This is the 50th annual motorcade, and WFPL News asked attendees who were lining the streets what they were thinking about as they celebrated King’s legacy in 2018.
Here are some of their responses. Listen to more in the audio player above.
Nesha Richardson
“Everybody should get along and don’t judge people by their color; God always says we are all brothers and sisters in God’s eyes.”
Charles Booker
“This celebration is more timely than ever. I say that every year, but I feel it more this year. And I woke up this morning thinking about the snow on the ground and I was like, this is pretty appropriate that it’s a sloppy, soggy, snowy day as we reflect on how we are marching towards freedom and justice, because we don’t just march on the sunny days.”
Shawn MacIntyre
“I was born in the '60s and my mother is Chinese. She came here to the United States and it was always a struggle for equality, especially being a woman and being a minority -- work and that kind of thing. That’s what I’m celebrating here, the ability of Dr. King to profess freedom for everybody and to see everybody equally.”
Mac Moore
“There is a lot we can learn. We could all just get along and it would be a lot better world. The hatred and stuff, it’s just like cancer, you know? I remember when my daughter was about 2 years old and we went to a video store. There was a little white kid about the same age as her and they just automatically just, like kids do, ran up to each other. They didn’t see any color, didn’t see anything, just another kid. By the time we were through searching for whatever videos we needed, we had to literally pull them apart. Like I said, if we could -- and scripture says, too -- be as little children, this world be a lot better place.”
