Today [Monday] Spokane marked the national Martin Luther King, Junior holiday with its annual celebration of speeches and a downtown march.
January days don’t get much better than this one in Spokane. The sun was shining and the temperature was above freezing as two or three thousand people walked a loop around a few downtown blocks in memory of Dr. King.
Small bands marched as they played music. Children in African-themed costumes danced. A few people held signs or banners. Many wore t-shirts featuring pictures of Dr. King’s face.
Martin Luther King would have been 90 last Tuesday. The 50th anniversary of his assassination passed last year. Many of the people participating weren’t around during his lifetime. And yet his words live on, in videos of his speeches now easily accessible on the Internet and in his disciples who are called upon every year around this time to remind us of Dr. King’s words.
In Spokane, what would Martin Luther King, Junior day be without the Reverend Happy Watkins reciting the “I Have A Dream” speech? In a cavernous ballroom in the convention center before the march, the Reverend Watkins belted out the last refrains.
“Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last. God bless."
And Stephy Nobles-Beans sang the anthem that has become associated with Dr. King during his marches.
“We have overcome. We have overcome. We have overcome today. Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe that we have overcome today. God bless you, Spokane, God bless you,” she sang to applause.