Vallejo community remembers MLK
Vote.
That was the universal message directed at the 350 people who participated in Vallejo’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day March on a cold Monday morning.
“The issues he was fighting for we’re still fighting for today; issues like education for our children, lack of livable-wage jobs, housing, and equality for all but I do have good news, it’s an election year this year,” said Vallejo Councilman Hakeem Brown during a postmarch program inside the Hogan Middle School auditorium.
Brown said to be successful in November, three things need to happen: Trust black women, collaborate, and vote.
“Vote if you’re tired of the status quo, vote if you don’t think your child is getting the education they need, vote if you think we need more housing in this city, vote if you want to see new leadership in the White House, vote if want to see real leadership in city hall,” he added.
Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, also urged participants to vote this year. He asked the audience to take a moment and pray for Rep. John Lewis who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Lewis, who marched with King in 1965 demanding African-Americans have the ability to register to vote, was beaten by white officers as he crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama
“John Lewis bled so we can vote,” Thompson said. “Martin Luther King Jr. died so we can vote.”
Thompson took time to lambaste President Donald Trump’s actions in the White House, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, for delaying a senate vote on hundreds of bills.
Just like in previous marches, the parade wound its way down Tennessee Street toward Hogan Middle School on Rosewood.
Indeed, the marchers were a diverse group as many chanted, others danced, while some held signs, banners or hands during the two-mile journey to Hogan.
State Assemblyman Tim Grayson, D-Concord, highlighted the need for unity, saying that the spirit and voice of Martin Luther King Jr. was needed more than ever.
Grayson said as a group, people needed to fight for equal access to education, and equal pay.
“There’s got to be a lot more to racial equality and equity than empty promises, political rhetoric and futile attempts to silence voices calling for justice,” he said.