Saturday, April 27, 2024
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Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered differently by different people.
Some remember him for his assertion that nonviolent struggle was the righteous and effective path to justice. Others reflect on his remarks about those who put the status quo, however unjust, ahead of liberation. Still others see him as a symbol of equality, a great orator, a leader, or a timeless message of hope.
Many of those views, and the people that hold them, came together Sunday and Monday during a series of events in Las Cruces to celebrate, remember and reflect on what King’s legacy means in 2024.
From speeches at the Roberto V. Estrada Pavilion to a hundred-person march to City Hall from Plaza de Las Cruces to a breakfast gathering at the Las Cruces Convention Center, hundreds of Las Crucens celebrated King on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15 as part of a yearly celebration.
“’Thriving together’ was the theme,” Bobbi Green, president of the Doña Ana County chapter of the NAACP, said.
And indeed, people from many walks of life assembled across the two days of events. Members of the public mingled and marched alongside influential people, including former mayor Ken Miyagishima and current Mayor Eric Enriquez, the Las Cruces police and fire chiefs, the district attorney, city councilors, county commissioners, state representatives, civil rights attorneys and more.
“I thought that was incredible,” Green said. “They all showed up. They all did exactly what they were asked to do. I think they went above and beyond.”
For King, togetherness was central to his dream of an America beyond hate.
“With this faith,” King said on the steps of the Lincon Memorial during his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, “we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
Speeches at the Pavilion
The events began Sunday at 2 p.m. with speeches at the downtown plaza.
Tommy Black, aka DJ Black, acted as master of ceremonies for the rally. He began by asking the younger members of the crowd to call on their elders for wisdom, especially in the face of renewed oppression.
“You look at the people with the wrinkled elbows. And what I want you to do is talk to them and get some wisdom. Because times are changing, if y’all haven’t noticed. They’re trying to take Black history out of history books,” Black said, referring to conservative censorship movements across the U.S. “The only way you’re really going to learn it is to get with some of these elder people.”
Black then called on Jeremy Story, the Las Cruces Police Department chief since December 2023.
“I’m humbled to speak at this event. When Dr. Green asked me, I was honored but a little anxious. It’s a difficult task to deliver remarks that do a man like Dr. King justice,” Story said.
“Dr. King experienced adversity and difficulty at a level that’s hard to comprehend. He was stabbed, punched, spit on, hit with rocks, and he was arrested at least 29 times for espousing the truth or disobeying unjust laws. He was ultimately assassinated for his beliefs and his influence.”
Story pointed to two takeaways from King’s legacy -- leadership in the face of adversity and willingness to listen, something he hopes to see more of between police and the public.
“It’s important to spend time together talking, listening and sharing perspectives,” Story said.
Another police speaker included Jamar Cotton. Cotton, a Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office sergeant and vice president of the county NAACP, spoke about diversity and inclusion.
“We’re very diverse. But does that mean that we are all included? It does not. So when we talk about diversity and inclusion, they’re not the same thing. And too often we believe they are,” Cotton said. “Inclusion is allowing everybody to have a voice. Diversity is what you see; inclusion is doing what we need to do.”
Patrick Turner, associate vice president of student academic success at New Mexico State University, led the crowd in chants of “no justice, no peace,” a slogan rooted in the aftermath of the 1986 racist beating and killing of 20-year-old Michael Griffith in New York City.
Turner spoke of King’s legacy as a defender of the downtrodden and the power inherent in everyone.
“We often think that these are these people who are way up here, but he (King) was just a person who realized that it was his role and civic duty to fight for those who could not fight for themselves,” Turner said.
“You have a voice, you have a platform, from our older generation out here to our younger generation. But understand that you have a voice. And Martin Luther King’s dream was a reflection of everything out here, everybody from every walk of life, from every socio-economic status, from every racial background, from every sexual orientation,” Turner said.
A march to City Hall
After about an hour of speeches, a group of students from the Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Ambassador’s program led the crowd on a march to City Hall.
Members of the crowd laughed and talked on the half-mile walk from the pavilion. Some walked with family. Others mingled with elected officials. The crowd gathered after the 15-minute walk for a final round of speeches led by Mayor Eric Enriquez and 3rd Judicial District Attorney Gerald Byers.
Enriquez, elected mayor of Las Cruces in November 2023, said that King’s legacy was one of hope.
“Martin Luther King Jr. was a man that gave us hope,” Enriquez said. “Hope for righteousness and justice for all. Hope that would lead to progress, and progress that would lead to change.”
Byers, elected in 2020, gave the rally’s closing remarks. He brought the conversation back to the event’s theme – thriving together – and added context about the origins of the project of American equality.
“So, from where are we thriving from? We’re thriving from a time of segregation. It’s not just history. 1963 was the Birmingham church bombing when little kids were blown up in an act of domestic terrorism. We didn’t think about it back then as domestic terrorism, but that’s exactly what it was,” Byers said. “And that’s something that we have to work hard to avoid nowadays.”
