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PageA13 Winston-Salem C/ironicle Thursday. September 9, 1993
March On Washington
On August 28, 1963, more than thirty young people were present,
years ago, over two hundred and fifty thousand Rainer Holcomb of St.Annes Episcopal
pMple from all over America gathered before Church and Robert Elliot of Crossing 52 initia-
the Lincoln Memorial to demand jobs and the tive took along with their families six young
ends of segregation, and to listen to Dr. Martin people . Rainier described the event as being
Luther King Jr
deliver his now
famous “I Have A E. guest columnist
Dream “ speech. fgULlmm
Thirty years later, ^pi|yV
once again, more By REV. JOHN MENDEZ
than one hundred ..aaP ij
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people
before the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate
and celebrate that historic event. Just like
before, the demand for jobs, justice and peace
was the theme. Many persons like Angie
Brown who made the pilgrimage to the first
march on Washington was compelled to attend
this demonstration and celebration also. Com
paring the two, Angie says she went the first
time out of conviction and the highlight, of
course, was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “
Given the wave of violence in our communi
ties and the deterioration of race relations and
escalation of racial attention across America, I
did not want to see Dr. King’s dream die, so I
went to Washington again to help keep the
demand alive.”
Patrice Mitchell, who was too young to
attend the first march on Washington but made
sure she was present for this one said, “It was a
powerful gathering, a lot of energy was con
centrated. I really feel motivated. I wish I
could have been at the first one, but this one
was exciting. To be among historical figures of
the Civil Rights Movement was just euphoric.
I really feel motivated . I only wish more
“^eat” because “to see different groups with
different agendas form a coalition to celebrate
the Historic March on Washington was just
wonderful. Today shows we have come a long
way even though we know we have a long
way to go. I was just glad to be there.
One of the objectives of the march was to
pass on the torch to the youth, hoping to
inspire them to move despair to hope as they
listened to speeches by Eartha Kitt, Coretta
Scott King, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young.
Joseph Lowery, Ben Chavis, Dorothy Height,
labor leaders, politicians, etc.
The highlight of the day for me was when
I met a woman from Missouri whose home
was demolished by the flood, she was home
less, she had lost everything. But she declared,
“I would not have missed this for anything in
the world. I had to come. I wanted to be here.
No flood could stop me.” That was the spirit
which characterized the memory of Dr.
King/March on Washington, 30 years later. It
is another way of saying, “I ain’t going to let
nobody turn me around, I keep on a marching
up the freedom road.”
A Day at Myrtle Beach
If you happened down Martin Luther King
Ir. Drive one recent Saturday morning around 6
a.m., you could not help noticing a sea of lights
lown the side of and wrapped around the back
af Kenneth R. Williams Auditorium headed
lown the hill toward the security office on the
Winston-Salem Sate University campus. The
“sea” was 15 forty-seven-passenger buses wait
ing to load 700 persons and take them to Myrtle
Beach, S.C. for the day.
It was the 2nd Annual 980 Triple A Goes to
the Beach Promotion.
Designed for “singles
who wanted to min
gle,” “couples who
wanted to share” and
“families who just
wanted to enjoy,” the
outing offered some
thing for everyone, as'
toddlers to seniors in their eighties boarded the
buses in anticipation of a relaxed day with old-
fashioned, clean and wholesome fun with fam
ily, friends, co-workers, church members and
new acquaintances.
They brought their pillows, blankets, beach
towels, swimwear, music boxes, Walkmans,
snacks, coolers, books, cards, cool clothing and
comfortable walking shoes. Once en route, they
talked, sang, laughed, read, meditated and slept.
Why, 1 even registered some persons to vote.
Once at Myrtle Beach, some headed
straight for the beach to wade in the water. For
some, it was the first time seeing the ocean, and
they just wanted to be engulfed in the breathtak
ing view. It was a beautiful, bright day — not
too hot — with great visibility. Others spent a
large portion of the afternoon at the amusement
park. Many shopped, and lots just walked
around, people-watching and sight-seeing.
By early evening, looks of satisfaction cou
pled with fatigue had crept on just about every
one’s face. It had been a great day without inci
dent, and when the buses returned at 9:30 p.m.,
700 persons were ready to reboard and start the
trip back to Winston-Salem. For quite a few,
that would only be the first destination — as
they originated from Charlotte, Kannapolis,
Asheville, Lynchburg, Va., and as far away as
Atlanta, Philadelphia and Maryland to be with
tamily and friends for a few high-quality and
significantly well-spent hours.
For some it was the first and only excursion
of the summer; for others it was the third and
fourth time to the beach. But this time it was far
less expensive and required less effort in prepa
ration. And for the school-aged kids, it was the
‘last hurrah” before the 1993-94 school year
would begin the next Monday.
The day had been everything that the orga
nizers and planners (WAAA radio station, “980
Triple A,” and specifically program director,
Mark Raymond, and owner and general man
ager, Mutter D. Evans) had hoped, because
except for a couple of mechanical problems, the
day had been perfect — a fitting tribute to very
loyal and diverse listeners; just plain ole good
folks who happened to have one thing in com
mon: They were all African American.
Who were these persons on this trip? They
were mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfa
thers, aunts, uncles, wives, husbands, sisters,
brothers, daughters, sons, widows, widowers,
single, divorced, employed, retired, underem
ployed, self-employed, unemployed, homeown
ers, renters, subsidized renters, consumers, auto-^
mobile owners, bus riders, college educates,
trade school graduates, high school graduates ...
In other words, they were a composite of
humanity — people who care, share, feel and
GUEST COLUMNIST
By MUTTER D. EVANS
want the best out of life for themselves and their
families. They were one-third male and two-
thirds female. Fifty percent were in WAAA’s
target demographics of 25-54; 33 percent were
minors; 9 percent were young adults between
19-24; and 8 percent were senior citizens with
six of them being in their eighties. They were a
lot like you and me.
When the last bus had returned and every
person had been seen off safely, the organizers
would eventually crash from exhaustion, but it
was an exhilarating and satisfying fatigue,
because all the planning and hard work had
proven to give us exactly what we had hoped: A
flawless day!
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Whit Lowery, cooler in hand, climbs bus
headed for Myrtle Beach, S.C.
VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY
The state legislature has removed the possibility of a mother getting charged with indecent exposure for breast-feeding
her child in public. The Chronicle asked residents if they thought a woman should be permitted to breast-feed in public.
Here are their responses:
Eugenia Bennett, 26
unemployed
"Yes — if she has a
cover over her chest so it
cannot be seen in public.
The baby's got to eat. It's a
natural part of life. If the
child is hungry, the woman
has to feed him. Everyone
should acknowledge that it's
a baby and it's perfectly nor
mal. A baby has to be fed
one way or another."
Demothanese Brannon, 44
city employee
"I think if the kid needs
nourishment he should be
fed. A lot of people may
say it's indecent exposure.
In the case of an emergency
I think it would be all right,
but if she's just doing it
ordinarily, I don't think it
would look right in public."
Tiffany Tatum, 22
Forsyth Tech
"I think a Woman
should be allowed to breast
feed her child in public
because there are not
enough private accomoda
tions. . . . It’s natural. . . .
and we need to start going
back to, traditional ways _ to
have a healthy and happy
close bond with the child."
Jeremy Cason, 19
warehouse technician
"Yes - if that's what she
needs to do to take care of
her baby if it's hungry. It
may offend some people,
but she has to do what she
needs to do."