Southern Colorado celebrates King holiday in variety of ways Monday
Sharing meals, marching, rallies and volunteering were all ways used by people in southern Colorado to observe Monday’s national holiday for civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
“It’s not just a holiday for African-Americans but one for all Americans,” said Frank Lytle, a member of the Colorado Springs NAACP. “And it’s not just about civil rights, either. Many people don’t know he also won the Nobel prize for peace.”
Celebrations began at 8 a.m. with a two-hour breakfast that attracted nearly 800 at Colorado College, followed by a symbolic march from the campus to Acacia Park downtown.
Several hundred marchers on Tejon Street held signs and sang on the sunny, mild winter day.
The marchers gathered at the park for a rally and more songs before dispersing around noon.
“I’m very glad,” said marcher Bill Davis. “This is better than driving all the way to Denver. I’ve done that for years and decided to come into the local community. I still traveled 40 miles to get here. But I loved working with King. My dad worked with King.”
“It’s a 50-year tradition, but there’s still a lot of work to be done — and I’ve only fully come to understand the work that’s involved in it, in just the last few years,” said Julie Carr, another marcher.
The late local civil rights leader, the Rev. Milton Proby, said in a past interview with KRDO NewsChannel 13 that King once held a rally in Denver, and that Colorado Springs leaders worked hard to prevent riots that were happening in other cities and on the day King was assassinated in 1968.
Yet Lytle said Colorado Springs remained segregated, with few opportunities for African-Americans, through the mid-1970’s.
“To some extent, there hasn’t been a great deal of change,” he said. “I think new industries started to move in, which allowed a diversity of people to move into the area. That’s the big thing, the creation of new jobs.”
Meanwhile, during the day at the Care and Share food bank in Colorado Springs. 200 volunteers honored King with the agency’s annual Day of Service.
“We just got back from Disney World, so we should balance our fun with service,” he said. “I’m glad I did it. Makes me feel good to help others.”
In Pueblo, around 100 people marched from the Rawlings Library to the El Pueblo History Museum downtown.
“Everyone is equal but we’re still marching for equal rights and equality,” said Roxana Mack, of the Pueblo NAACP, in explaining this year’s motto: Yes, We Will Continue On.
