‘This is our way of honoring Dr. King’: MLK marches in Sacramento attract big crowds
More than 2,000 people gathered Monday to march through Land Park to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the 42nd Annual March for the Dream, one of three walking rallies in Sacramento to celebrate the fallen civil rights leader.
Teenagers, grandparents and toddlers joined together for the march. The mood was celebratory, with people singing, dancing, and occasionally raising their fists in solidarity as they walked. A float blaring songs like “Everybody Dance Now,” led the way as the circuit walked on Land Park Drive, Broadway and Freeport Boulevard. The main march began and ended at Sacramento City College in what MLK365 founder Sam Starks called a “love loop.” Several marchers carried banners with King’s face on them surrounded by American flags, as well as signs that read “let freedom ring.”
Residents of Land Park also cheered on marchers as the parade returned for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled marches in 2021 and 2022.
Marches and celebrations also took place in North Sacramento — where the Roberts Family Development Center hosted a walk and recognition of King and the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Grant Union High School in Del Paso Heights — and in south Sacramento — where a march walked Franklin Boulevard, Florin Road, Freeport Boulevard and Meadowview Road.
Dr. LaWanda Wesley and Nyuieko Bansah wore blue and gold Sigma Gamma Rho jackets as they marched through Land Park. For over 20 years, the pair, members of the historically Black sorority, has been marching on MLK Day in Sacramento.
“This is our way of honoring Dr. King,” Wesley said. “It’s one of the few times we can all come together as a city.”
Both women said although Sacramento is diverse, it can be hard to find a thriving Black community to be a part of.
“When I first moved here (from Oakland), I said, ‘Where are all the Black people?’” Wesley said.
Bansah, despite growing up in south Sacramento, has had a similar experience.
“Sacramento can feel isolated, especially if you’re Black here,” Bansah said. “This gives us a chance to unify the whole community and show our strength.”
Several groups were advocating for specific causes at the march, including climate change, voting rights and stopping Asian hate.
Voting rights are especially important to Wesley, who has several grandchildren, she said.
“I’m a grandma and I don’t want to have more rights than my grandkids,” she said. “I already have had more reproductive rights than my grand daughter will have.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2023 at 12:38 PM.
