This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 19, 2009 - When state Sen. Jeff Smith, D-4th District, put out a call for volunteers to help him clean Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, he expected no more than 50, maybe 75, people to meet him at King and Union Boulevard at noon Monday.
"Over 275 showed up," an elated Smith said. "We had planned to clean up Martin Luther King only, but we got so many volunteers that we're doing Page, Natural Bridge, Goodfellow and Kingshighway."
The event was part of the national day of service activities associated with the national Martin Luther King holiday on what would have been the civil rights leader's 80th birthday. He was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39.
Smith says he shouldn't have been surprised that people from all walks of life and from throughout the area participated in an event, which was reminiscent of the old Operation Brightside that former Mayor Vincent C. Schoemehl used to sponsor throughout the city.
"People just need to be asked to do things in a way that's safe, organized and very positive. There's tremendous energy in the country right now. Given Barack Obama's inauguration, people really want to pitch in and make their state, community and country better. So we just tried to tap into that. It's been really good to see so many white folks come up to north St. Louis and do something good," Smith said.
One county resident who showed up was Madeline Grucca, a resident of Richmond Heights and a teacher in the Special School District. She and another family were assigned to collect trash along a section of MLK near Euclid Avenue.
"I wanted to start this tradition with my son," she said. "I see it as making a difference."
Farther east on a chilly Monday afternoon, Bob Newmark, a lawyer at Bryan Cave, was busy cleaning a section of Page Avenue near Sarah Street with his three small children and other families.
"On Martin Luther King Day, I like to reflect on where our country has been and where we're going as a people," Newmark says. "I like to mark the day with my children to make them aware there are some disparities in our community and we need to be doing whatever we can to make it better. Also, today is doubly important to me because of Obama's call for national service and I thought it important that we do something."
Other National Day of Service activities
AmeriCorps
Over a dozen Grace Hill AmeriCorps Rangers, four staffers and 11 volunteers commemorated King's legacy in a different sort of clean-up on Saturday. They seeded five acres of a reclaimed landfill on the north end of the city. They hope the seeding of native grasses will help return the landfill into a natural prairie that will support wildlife and beautify the area. The area where they worked is situated between the Riverfront Trail and the Mississippi River, a few blocks south of the City Workhouse.
Powell Symphony Hall
Roughly 500 people turned out for the annual King holiday program at Powell Symphony Hall, where some were not only celebrating King but promoting their political races. Inside Powell's lobby, merchants were selling a variety of items, ranging from T-shirts to political buttons.
The Rev. Elston McCowan, a Green Party candidate for mayor, was shaking hands with some of the people attending the event. So was former Sen. Maida Coleman, a Democrat who is expected to run for mayor as an independent.
Coleman said King laid the groundwork "for what we should all be aspiring to be - good citizens in this country with fairness and justice." Asked if she participated in the march, Coleman conceded that she walked a very short time, saying someone drove her to the Old Courthouse, the starting point of the march. She quipped that she marched "back to my car," adding that she knew she couldn't have walked the length of the march from downtown to Powell.
The celebration at Powell Hall, which included plenty of music and singing, culminated in an emotional speech by the Rev. Elijah Hankerson III, pastor at Life Center International Church, a Church of God in Christ denomination at 800 North Union Boulevard.
He warned against complacency and urged the audience to stay focused on King's dream.
"Even though we have an African American president, we cannot afford to say the struggle is over," he told the crowd. "He has a big job to do, and the struggle will continue. We need to keep in mind the relevance of Dr. King's dream.
"The dream has not been fulfilled. Right after Obama was elected, one of our churches back East, a new church, was burned to the ground by racists who were upset that a black man was elected president. So there are still people who have different issues that we need to deal with."
Webster Groves
For the 10th year, Webster Groves celebrated King's birthday with a march from City Hall on Lockwood Avenue to the Steger Sixth Grade Center in Rock Hill. At least 250 people, including Mayor Gerry Welch and school Superintendent Bret Underwood, joined the march. e
"People keep coming back for this event," Welch said. "It's getting larger and it's a wonderful treat to the legacy of Dr. King. It brings the community together."
This year's speaker was Ty Christian, chief marketing strategist for the Martin Luther King National Memorial Project Foundation in Washington. Christian, who grew up in Webster Groves, said the foundation had now raised $104 million of the $120 million needed for the King Memorial. He thanked Webster Groves students for raising $6,000 for the project.
"It's very humbling to come back to your hometown to speak and be able to visit with family," said Christian, whose mother still lives in Webster. He urged residents to maintain "courage and strength" to advance King's dream.
Rev. Susan King Forbes, pastor of the Church of the Open Door in Webster Groves, said the annual event was a reminder that King's message was "just as important today as it was 40 years ago." Like the city's mayor, Forbes and others said the annual march was a way of "bringing people together who don't always get together."
Edward Johnson, of Webster-Rock Hill Ministries, says the event helps residents focus on what King talked about and "one time of year, just like Christmas, practice what he talked about."
Washington University School of Social Work
Washington University's School of Social Work focused on what might be called "silver rights" as a way of honoring King by showing people how to survive tough economic times.
Tesheba Wadley, a second year graduate student in social work and co-chair of the seminar, says "King spoke often about financial knowledge as a pathway to African Americans to advance, better their lives and improve their living situations."
The all-day seminar drew on financial experts to advise participants on financial planning, borrowing, home ownership, investing and planning for college.
One participant, Karen Owens, said she learned much after listening to a session by Treina L. Lind, an assistant vice president of St. Louis Community Credit Union.
"I live with my mon and dad, and I'm looking for a place of my own," said Owens, who lives in Bellefontaine Neighbors. "She offered advice on home ownership and managing debt. That's just what I needed."
Jack Kirkland, an associate professor of social work, says giving needy people advice on money management was an issue that King embraced.
"You have people who are isolated and concerned about their financial well-being," Kirkland said. "They don't have equal access to information about the issue. This program provides an opportunity by bringing in professionals who have information that people need to learn how to be responsible borrowers and how to transact business in a way that they're not in arrears and in default."
Kirkland said poor people are pushed down economically in part because "they've not mastered their finances, are not paying their taxes" and are ignoring "their fiscal responsibilities."
The symposium not only seeks to help adults but provide them with sound financial information that they can pass on to their children, Kirkland said.
