They marched in his honor

Martin Luther King remembered

Saturday morning’s commemorative march was one of several events held around town in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. Participants gathered at High Springs City Hall and set out around 11 a.m., led by a police escort.

Forget walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. Try walking a mile in their honor – in memory of them.

Some toddled and some marched. Some strained while some peddled bikes, and some depended on their motorized wheelchairs. But together, about 50 to 60 pairs of feet joined in procession from High Springs City Hall downtown to Catherine Taylor Park, in the Douglass neighborhood, just under a mile away.

The Saturday-morning commemorative march was one of several events held around town in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. Participants gathered at City Hall and set out around 11 a.m., led by a High Springs police escort.

Mayor Larry Travis and city commissioners Byran Williams and Sue Weller followed at the head of the crowd as it snaked down the street. Behind them, singing and clapping would break out intermittently along the way.

“This little light of mine” echoed through town as the procession passed.

Upon arriving at Catherine Taylor Park, where grills would soon be lit and piled with food for a celebration to ensue, grown-ups gathered under the pavilion while children suddenly scattered.

Most relocated to the adjacent jungle gym, or the basketball court across the field, as if knowing to escape now or else remain at whatever serious activity was about to take place.

But in their absence they were talked about as community leaders took turns with a microphone, sharing their thoughts on King’s legacy and how he changed history.

Afterward they would go to work preparing a feast to be sold to raise money for the daycare center at the park.

“We need to let our young people know that what they have cost a price,” Commissioner Williams said, referring to the ultimate sacrifice King made for his cause.

Mayor Travis acknowledged that many young people don’t understand what went on leading up to and culminating in the civil rights movement in this country. On the other hand, there are people here, he said, who were there for it. And for them, he said, he has the utmost respect.

Others, like Ronald Wilson, president of the High Springs Community Development Association, explained that King made it possible for them to get where they are today. Wilson ended his career in the U.S. Army as an officer.

“That never would’ve happened if it weren’t for what Dr. King did,” he said.

The oldest marcher on Saturday was Esther H. Thomas. She’s 80, and she remembers going to the movies at the Priest Theater in High Springs with her brothers and friends and not being allowed to sit with the white audience. She had to go upstairs to watch movies, because of the color of her skin.

“I’m thankful to have been able to live to see change,” she said.

She went on to say, “Freedom is a two-way street.”

“I can’t go around hating you because of what your parents or grandparents might have done.”

She echoed sentiments shared earlier by former city commissioner and community activist, Freddie L. Hickmon.

He said, “We’ve marched 10 or 12 consecutive years, and during those years did not have one Caucasian marching with us.”

Hickmon was happy, he said, to see that was not true this year. In closing his remarks, he said, “I would suggest to all of us that we learn to live together.”

King was a man who loved people, Commissioner Williams later declared.

“Not just black people – everybody.”