Laredoans who wish to commemorate the life of the heroic civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and exercise their own civil rights are invited to walk in the January 20 “I Have A Dream: No Border Wall” march from St. Peter’s Plaza and downtown to San Agustín Plaza.
“Dr. King’s legacy of peaceful and nonviolent protest, and his call for equality and freedom, was revolutionary in confronting deep unrest in our country,” said RGISC executive director Tricia Cortez, who is organizing this event with members of the “Where’s the National Emergency” coalition.
“Today, his message of unity and justice rings loudly and urgently here on the border,” Cortez said.
“The federal government has threatened our community with lawsuits, the taking of public and private lands, the suspension of public input, and the waiving of dozens of federal laws – unlike any other region in the United States – to build a destructive, ineffective and unwelcome wall to satisfy a political promise made to the far right fringes in our country. But we won’t cave into fear or despair. MLK showed us that hope, courage, and determination always prevail and that the moral arc of the universe always bends toward justice.”
A rally at San Agustín Plaza will feature several speakers, including eminent historian and author Dr. Jerry Thompson; government and history professor Dr. Horacio Salinas, poet and educator Rosa María De Llano; and members of the Lakota Nation from South Dakota who were active in the 11-month struggle at Standing Rock.
Those who will walk the 10-block route on MLK Day will meet at St. Peter’s Plaza at Houston and Main streets at 9:30 a.m. and begin the walk at 10 a.m. The route will pause momentarily at Jarvis Plaza and continue down Matamoros Street before turning right on Flores to reach San Agustín Plaza.
City shuttle busses will return participants to their cars in the St. Peter’s Historic Neighborhood after the event.
The march is sponsored by the City of Laredo, the Río Grande International Study Center (RGISC), the Sisters of Mercy, the Webb County Heritage Foundation, Earthjustice, and the Laredo Immigrant Alliance, among others.
Laredoans of all ages are invited to participate.
“We are inviting everyone who drinks from this river and who has a stake in this resource that gives us life, to walk with us,” Cortez said.
Members of the organizing committee are inviting all educators and their students, civic and community organizations, elected officials, city and county employees, business owners, youth organizations, school bands, veterans, local clergy and their parishioners, cycling clubs, and residents of El Cenizo, Río Bravo, San Ygnacio, and Zapata to the march.
“The walk is an opportunity to engage students in an important civics lesson — speaking up non-violently and with dignity and purpose,” Cortez said.
For further information or to sign up an organization for the walk, please call RGISC at (956) 718-1063, or email tricia@rgisc.org.
