Joplin MLK, Jr. March
By: Jessica Schaer
Updated: January 26, 2013
JOPLIN -- Close to a dozen members of Joplin's Myrtle Lodge and Joplin city leaders marched down Broadway on their way to Landreth Park Saturday. The event kicked off at noon in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 84th birthday, which was on January 15. Organizers began participating in the march last year and hope to make it even bigger in the future.
"Our kids, they're in school, integrated schools together, and yet, they're like, 'how come we don't have marches here? We have them everywhere else.' How come we don't have them in Joplin?,'" says march co-organizer Willie Sweet Pea Rogers, Jr. "So here's the opportunity."
"To represent Dr. Martin Luther King, and honor his legacy and his spirit," says participant Travon Smith. "An doing the march, that represents so much to my rights and everyone else's rights."
Organizers say plans are already in the works for next year, including planting a tree at the end of the march and adding food and drinks.
"Our kids, they're in school, integrated schools together, and yet, they're like, 'how come we don't have marches here? We have them everywhere else.' How come we don't have them in Joplin?,'" says march co-organizer Willie Sweet Pea Rogers, Jr. "So here's the opportunity."
"To represent Dr. Martin Luther King, and honor his legacy and his spirit," says participant Travon Smith. "An doing the march, that represents so much to my rights and everyone else's rights."
Organizers say plans are already in the works for next year, including planting a tree at the end of the march and adding food and drinks.
