Marching in memory

CLOVIS - It was just a little above freezing in Clovis at 9 a.m. Monday - 36 degrees, to be exact. But there was no better time, and O.G. Potter Park no better place, to take an important walk.

People from a spectrum of races and ages gathered there, and eventually at St. John Baptist Church, to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and discuss his body of work and the vision still not completely fulfilled.

After a few quick words in King's honor, the crowd of about 60 people began the walk from Potter Park to the church, with most of the approximate mile taking place in a northbound lane of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The crowd grew by 20 to 30 people by the time it gathered in the church, both from people who joined the walk along the way and those already setting up the services that featured Carlton Lewis as the keynote speaker.

Mayor David Lansford spoke at both the park and the church, noting King's model of peaceable protest and how the example he set was based on Scripture and the word of Jesus.

Before Lewis spoke, the crowd heard musical selections from Mary Hall and a passionate re-enactment of King's "I Have a Dream" speech from Roger Grooms, including the well-known paragraphs but also noting the shameful condition of a nation where a black man in Mississippi faced voter suppression and a black man in New York had nothing to vote for.

Lewis, a mental health counselor for Clovis Municipal Schools, touched on many subjects King referenced, and told the crowd whatever differences they may see in each other are trivial.

"One way to tell how alike we are is if an alien space ship landed outside, we'd come together really quick," Lewis said with a laugh. "We don't have to have something happen for us to tell we're more alike than we are different."

Lewis said change in the world was inevitable and necessary, and said standing up for what was right was always right because God stands with you even when you feel like you're standing alone.

He also shared advice his mother gave him growing up.

"If you keep doing the things you've always done," Lewis said, "you'll keep getting the things you've always gotten. ... (That) may be comforting to some, but not to all of us."

Joyce Pollard of the Clovis Martin Luther King Commission said Monday's event marked the 28th year of the celebration in the city. Though the church services have changed locations over the years, a march is always scheduled to pay tribute to the 1965 march King led from Selma, Alabama, to the capital city of Montgomery to demonstrate for voting rights.