Hopkinsville’s march honoring civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. set a new record for student participation with 180 young people joining Monday’s observance, organizers said. Along with a few hundred adults, they walked three-quarters of a mile from Freedom Elementary School to Hopkinsville Community College for a program that was mostly led by youth.
“Look at all of us,” Christian County High School student Tyjairria Johnson said from the stage of HCC’s Auditorium. “We are all African American women and men, and we are very intelligent. We are up here … this is what he fought for. We are doing it!”
The crowd of roughly 350 people in Thomas L. Riley Hall cheered for Johnson, who was responding to a question about what King might think of the country today. She was among eight Black students invited to a panel discussion about King’s work and legacy. The students were members of two local mentoring groups, Lipstick After Dark and Men2Be.
Another student observed that most of them wouldn’t have been allowed in the room several decades ago. Some audience members were old enough to have experienced that kind of discrimination, including 82-year-old barber Hugh Northington. He was recognized as the oldest marcher and came to the stage to accept a certificate from the Human Rights Commission of Hopkinsville-Christian County, which organized the event.
Beloved community
Nichelle Hillis, commission chairwoman, urged the audience to work toward a beloved community, described as one without poverty, hunger or hate. It is a concept that King popularized.
“Pray for those who mistreat you. Do justice. Love mercy … and walk humbly with our God,” she said, citing the main tenants of a beloved community.
“This is the action that we need to start seeing a shift in unjust systems that still oppress marginalized communities across the nation, across our community and across the world,” she said.
“Can you imagine if the 8 billion people in this world, and maybe just the people in this room, actually engaged with the action of love. It would bring about healing and transformation to families, our education system.
“When Dr. King talked about the beloved community, this is the action he was calling us to do. And so we want to go forward today, not just as a celebration or just for this moment. … It starts with a decision to respond with love, justice, mercy and humility. That is the movement that we need to see in the community that is working toward the beloved community,” she said.
Don’t forget
Educator Paulette Nance Robinson wrote and directed a theatrical portion of the program that she titled “Don’t Forget to Remember.” It included songs and dramatic readings from King’s work in Birmingham, including the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” after his arrest for leading a protest march.
Robinson recalled times when Black Americans could not use public accommodations or even feel safe from terror.
“Don’t forget to remember that black and brown-skinned people were tired of the beatings and lynchings,” she said. “They wanted change. They needed equal rights. They needed equal treatment. They were willing to make the change for a better way of life.”
Many in the audience had never experienced what it was like for Black families to travel when there were no public restrooms they were allowed to use, Robinson described.
“Somebody sacrificed for us to have the privileges that we have today,” she said. “Don’t forget to remember.”
Two members of Men2B — Antonio Catlett and DeKerrieon Whitlock — read from King’s “Blueprint Speech,” which he gave on Oct. 26, 1967, at a junior high school in Philadelphia.
School challenge
Three schools were recognized for having the most marchers in the school challenge. They were: Christian County Middle School, first; Millbrooke Elementary School, second; and Christian County High School, third.
As the winner, CCMS received a $500 prize from Tom Bell’s insurance agency, which sponsors the challenge. Bell, who chairs the Christian County Board of Education, said there were only 25 students marching when the first school challenge for MLK Day was held 15 years ago.
HRC’s anniversary
The Human Rights Commission is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, said Idalia Luna, executive director.
In July 1963, at the urging of local civil rights attorney Louis McHenry, Hopkinsville City Council voted to create the city’s Human Relations Commission. (The name was later changed to Human Rights Commission.) The city council’s action was significant since it occurred before the Kentucky General Assembly or Congress had adopted civil rights legislation, she noted.
Next month, the local HRC will celebrate Black History Month. The theme will be “Black Resistance.”
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
