Martin Luther King Day

Two days ago on the 21st, I attended the MLK march with 20 other people, which was way more than last year from what I've heard. When we arrived there were hundreds of Spokanites of all ages, colors and socio-economic statuses crowded in the multi purpose room of the convention hall in downtown. Hopefully it will become more of a prevalent event in the upcoming years not only for Whitworth and Spokane, but the whole entire nation. I say this because if it wasn't for the extra credit opportunity I would've had no motivation to go and would've missed out on such a great experience. Initially, I had no idea what to expect and I never expect much out of public events hosted in Spokane. But I'm glad I was forced to go under the circumstances of my grade and experience such powerful energy. People of all kinds gathered in the convention hall for the same reasons. They gathered for the hope of a future that will finally bring national equality and they came for inspiration and strength to persevere and maintain that goal.

To some degree their expectations were possibly met. At 9 O' clock in the morning we stood still for like an hour with no chairs and walked in the streets for 10 minutes in 20 degree weather, so morale might have started a bit low. It took a while for it to go back up after a couple speeches. I especially liked the ones of the NAACP representative and the chief and lieutenant of the Spokane Police Department who emphasized on the promotion of higher education and high school graduation rate. They were good but they weren't as good as Dr. King's speech at our nation's capital. However, this holiday that celebrates his achievements and legacy reinforced the messages conveyed by the speeches and the march, making it seem like we all had the power of civil rights in the palms of our hands.