"Just a Thought" Column continues in La Prensa SA, 1-19

Just a Thought: Annual MLK Jr. March
By Steve Walker

Tomorrow is the 27^th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. March. As one who has marched consecutively for the last 16 years without missing, I look forward to once again making the 2.75 mile trek along Martin Luther King Drive to the Pittman Sullivan YMCA for the festivities.

Since 2007 I have been blessed to cover the March by taking photos of the event for my photoblog, the Walker Report. Before that I was strictly a marcher and active participant in the yearly tribute as a Balcones Heights Councilman, American Federation of Teachers Union President representing Harlandale ISD and for four years as a Judge.

In 1981 when I was the President of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, our chapter was one of the first non African-American organizations in San Antonio who endorsed a National Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday when it wasn’t that popular to do so.

Because of that endorsement, I was asked as President to speak to the first group of about 500 people who gathered at MLK Plaza to unofficially celebrate the occasion which the following year was to become a nationally recognized holiday.

During my coverage in photos of the March, I have covered Grand Marshalls to include Congressman John Lewis, Dr. Joseph Lowry and other civil rights activists who marched with Dr. King in the 50s and 60s.

Two years ago in 2012 the guest speaker was Martin Luther King III, eldest son of the slain civil rights leader. I was fortunate to have covered MLK III a few years earlier for a program on poverty when he visited San Antonio to be a speaker at a conference.

During the 2012 event he was interviewed by San Antonio Express-News Reporter Abe Levy. In the interview he praised San Antonio for its eye-raising turnout. He noted that the March would have impressed his father.

Levy wrote, “He said the highest love is defined by the word ‘agape.' It is the love that is totally unselfish because it seeks nothing in return,” King, Monday's keynote speaker, said of his father.

“You love because you know God calls you to do that. And when we embrace that kind of love, we will move America and the entire world forward. We've got to have that kind of love for humankind,” he added.

His speech to the estimated crowd of over 100-thousand marchers was well received.

Assuming this year’s event will continue attract another 100-thousand plus, we can look forward to another successful celebration of the legacy of national civil rights leader, If you haven’t ever participated, now might be the time to do so. Be sure Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to wear some comfortable shoes for the 2.75 mile March.

And as always, what I write is “Just a Thought.”

Steve Walker is a Vietnam Veteran and former Justice of the Peace and Journalist.