MILFORD, Ohio — Several dozen people gathered in Milford tonight to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington. The group marched not in protest, but as a pro-community event.
“All the encouragement in unity,” event organizer Jara Bonner said. “It’s good to know we’re not alone in this fight.”
Bonner said she hopes the message to spark change moving forward is a way to keep King’s dream alive.
“Seeing everybody here and supporting the same thing is a really good thing,” marcher Kashya Jackson said.
She said the march couldn’t have come at a more pivotal time in our country’s history.
“It’s kind of an experience you get to experience once in a lifetime,” Jackson said.
Friday marked 57 years after King's march on Washington.
“Overall, it’s just knowing what we’ve been through,” marcher Emmie Newton said. “What my grandmother and great grandmother has been through over the years.”
She said she came from Arkansas, where her family witnessed racism. They came to the march together.
“We stick together,” Newton said. “That’s the bottom line.”
Not as a protest, but, according to marchers, a movement.
“We want to make sure people have a safe place to have dialogue,” Bonner said. “That’s the only way we’re going to change this.”
The march through Milford was followed by excerpts from King’s speech. His message rings true more than five decades later.
“We have to get back to each other treating each other as human beings,” Bonner said. “Getting over our differences. We’re more alike than we are different when it comes down to it.”
Working together to keep a dream alive – until it can be made a reality.
“We can all come together to fight racism and give everyone equal access to opportunities no matter what color you are, or what your background is,” Bonner said.
