Marching towards a dream: Macon comes together in honor of King

Long-time Maconites, Middle Georgia residents and even some folks who just recently began calling Macon home braved the cold weather to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Community members gathered at one of four community centers across the county to march for equality, justice and freedom — the values King advocated for nearly 60 years ago.

“I’m here in support of what Dr. King has done and to keep his legacy alive,” Denise Parker of Columbus told The Melody.

She used to attend the marches annually when she lived in Macon and said it was nice to be able to attend again while visiting her mom this year.

Macon resident Charlie William has marched on MLK Day every year since 1987. For the last two decades, he marched with a large, framed black and white photo of King with the words “I have a dream” along with the civil rights leader’s famous speech printed over the image.

William doesn’t march alone. He has brought his granddaughter, Kayla Glover, every year since she was little.

“I hope she get that we should all learn to live together as brothers,” William said, noting that he was born in a time when segregation was still a reality.

Now 16 years old, Glover believes everyone should be out marching in honor of King’s legacy.

 “Everybody should be down here walking,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how cold it is, everybody got clothes.”

Unionville community members, alongside church buses and a police escort, marched up Pio Nono Avenue and onto Montpelier toward the heart of downtown. Folks chanted, sang and waved to passersby and those who stood on their porches cheering.

Marching is a way of showing appreciation for King’s efforts and remembering his legacy, Porsha Demons told The Melody.

She marched in Macon for the first time Monday with her three young children by her side.

“We still honor him and we still walk with power,” Demons said.

Greens Tabernacle Baptist Church Pastor Clifford Little has participated in Macon’s MLK marches for two decades and led folks from the Frank Johnson Recreation Center all the way downtown to City Hall.

“We don’t just march once a year. We’re doing it today, but when we leave here, we have to march in our lives,” he said. “Now [we] have to go back to our respective homes and live the dream.”

Little is also a reverend for the Evangelical Ministers Alliance, which sponsored the marches in Macon.

At noon, community members came together in front of the steps of City Hall and hung banners representing the four regions.

“We stand here today to recognize the struggle of the past. Those monumental efforts by our leaders and our community ensure that we can come together,” Macon-Bibb County Manager Keith Moffett said. “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.”

A climaxing church celebration at the historic Steward Chapel AME Church on Forsyth Street followed the marches.

Attendees listened to executive officers of the Evangelical Ministers Alliance and heard an Invitation to Discipleship from the Rev. Dr. Wanda West.

King once made a speech titled “There is no East and There is no West” at the historic Steward Chapel, Macon Water Authority Board member and former county commissioner Elaine Lucas told church-goers.

Those who came before them spent their nickels and dimes to build Steward Chapel, because they didn’t want to worship where others told them they had to, Lucas, a member of the church for more than 40 years, explained.

“It is so wonderful to see this church full,” she said.