A little over a dozen people marched Monday in Moscow in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Marchers held handmade signs adorned with messages such as “individually we are a drop but together we are an ocean,” “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and “we are only as strong as we are united.”
Many of the marchers came from Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority, Inc. and Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc., the two groups that organized the event. Lysa Salsbury — director of the Women’s Center — also attended the event.
“These students are just amazing,” Salsbury said. “They’re so engaged, they’re so connected to the issues of unity, solidarity and social justice and I want to be here to support them and to show them that what they’re doing matters and I care about it and that I’m here to help them forward their mission in any way that I can.”
Eduardo Celis, a fourth-year UI student majoring in marketing and human resources management, led the group in their march down sixth street to Friendship Square. His co-leader Viktoria Ramos, a third-year UI student majoring in communications, helped build the group’s momentum.
He led chants of “All night, all day, we will fight for MLK,” “What do we want? Unity! When do we want it? Now!” and “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” as the group moved through campus and downtown Moscow.
When the group reached Friendship Square, they chanted a few more times before sharing with each other what Martin Luther King, Jr. Day means to them and why they decided to march.
“I think the important thing here is the work doesn’t just stop now, we’ve got to go ahead and continue it,” Celis said. “Today, the people that did not like MLK back in the day, they’re still out there voting. We all know who they voted for. So right now, what we’ve got to do next, we’ve got to go ahead and encourage others to start registering to vote, we’ve got to get them to vote, but the most important thing, too, is we’ve got to let our legislators know.”
In addition to Celis, several other marchers spoke after nine community members — including a child and a dog — approached the group to participate in the celebration.
“I want to go ahead and try to invite as many organizations, try to get this as publicized as much as we can, make it one of the elite events that is going to be held on this day in collaboration with the breakfast and probably similar to how the Spokane march is,” Celis said of his hopes for the future of the march. “That’s long-term goals that we’re going to go ahead and achieve one day.”