SPOKANE, Wash. – Hundreds of people bundled up and braved the bitter cold to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Downtown Spokane on Monday morning.
Michael Bethely and his father Chris have been coming to Spokane’s MLK celebration for decades, and they weren’t going to let a little cold get in their way this year.
“It’s MLK Day, right? We’ve got to stand for something,” Michael said. “It behooves us to make just a little sacrifice versus the lifelong sacrifice that he made.”
They were two of hundreds at a rally inside the Spokane Convention Center, which included a proclamation from Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, a video of legendary Spokane pastor Rev. Happy Watkins reciting Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream Speech” and a tribute to longtime Spokane civil rights activist Ivan Bush, who died last summer.
“It was a great time, I enjoy every time we come out here,” Chris Bethely said.
“Community’s important, you know? You can’t grow without the community,” Michael Bethley said, agreeing with his father. “I think it’s very important for us to continue growing as a community. By doing that, we come to these events, we support each other, we look out for each other, we love on each other–that’s the biggest thing overall.”
The theme of the celebration: make the holiday a day on, not a day off, as a call to action in the name of Dr. King.
“The greatest weapon is love, may we be champions of justice. That’s the power of a dream,” said Whitworth University Assistant Chaplain Stephy Nobles-Beans to the crowd in a passionate speech. “So I ask you this question this morning Spokane: if not us, who? And if not now, when?
Executive director of Spokane’s Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center–and organizer of Monday’s celebration–Freda Gandy, said the large turnout despite temperatures in the single digit is a testament to the power of Dr. King’s legacy.
“My heart was just so filled to see so many people still come out and celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King,” Gandy said. “I was a little worried that the cold weather would keep people inside, but they still came out. They just bundled up and we did our walk.”
A resource fair inside the convention center followed the march, where several local businesses and nonprofit organizations had booths to share their work with the community.
“We can’t do this work alone as an organization, so all of these are our community partners who we work alongside to have the biggest impact we can have,” Gandy said. “We wanted to make sure that they were represented, and that people know they can get involved in those organizations too.”
