Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Austin Monday morning to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The annual MLK Community March started at the Martin Luther King Jr. statue on the University of Texas campus and ended at Huston-Tillotson University for an all day festival.
“We’ve come a long way in the city of Austin,” Joe Deshotel, Communications Director for the Travis County Democratic Party said, “from a city less than a hundred years ago that was forced segregation across the city.”
Deshotel said while Texas has come a long way in honoring the concepts Dr. King fought and died for, the Lone Star State still has a long way to go.
“We are now starting to make a lot of progress and continue to diversify the city, but we still have a lot of problems,” Deshotel said. “Economic opportunity and affordable housing are two main issues especially for people of color in the communities here in Austin.”
Lottie A. Dailey, who marched along the parade route in Austin with Deshotel, said she agrees.
“Texas today,” Dailey said, “along with the other states have a long ways to go.”
Dailey was a part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Growing up, her father was a civil rights activist, so naturally Dailey said she decided to follow in his footsteps.
“Ultimately, we can just improve how we treat one another,” Dailey said, “because Martin Luther King fought for equality and housing and how we treated our sisters and brothers, and just for the rights of all persons. So, we can really step up the game, because we still have a long ways to go.”
Monday is the 30th anniversary of the federal holiday honoring the civil rights leader, and the 23rd year for the march in Austin. Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 87 on Friday.
