Tulsans Remember King With March

By Chris Wright, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Tulsans celebrated Martin Luther King's birthday with a march down Cincinnati Avenue on Sunday. 

The Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Society makes the march every year as a ceremonial re-enactment of the civil disobedience King advocated.

Participants said their march embodies King's ideals, and Tuesday's presidential inauguration is proof that his dream is still alive.

"Well, certainly, because you had the dreamer, and now you have someone who made the dream come true, so it's especially significant to the African American community," said Pleas Thompson with the Commemoration Society.

Said Bob Russell, "I think Dr. King would say we're not there yet, but we're getting closer."

Following tradition, the group wound its way to the Boston Avenue Methodist Church. Inside, during a vigil that featured prayer and song, speakers touched on the similarities between King and Barack Obama.

Some in the audience said they weren't sure whether another leader would ever inspire them in the manner King did. But on Tuesday, they expect to feel that way about the new president.

"The future, there's nothing to stop them, nothing to hold them back," Tulsa resident Cleatta Johnson said. "It's no excuses. It's just a drive there, the hope, the vision, to keep on going.

"It means hope coming alive. I didn't think that I would ever see this, and I am just so happy."

The Martin Luther King Commemorative Parade begins 10 a.m. Monday at the corner of Pine Street and Greenwood Avenue.

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