AR-News: (NC) Vegetarian message at Dr. King Peace March

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The march was peppered with signs and banners, from Women in Black to 
Veterans for Peace and vegetarians, who held a banner proclaiming, "Peace begins in 
the kitchen."
Asheville Citizen-Times
January 20, 2004
http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/news/48554

Marchers recall the spirit of King 
By Leslie Boyd, Staff Writer

photo: Ewart Ball
Marchers walk in the annual celebration in memory of the Rev. Martin Luther 
King Jr. on Monday. The march went from St. James AME Church to City- County 
Plaza. 







ASHEVILLE - Veterans of the civil rights movement gathered Monday along with 
young people who can only know of the struggle through the stories of their 
elders and history books.
Hundreds strong, black and white marched arm-in-arm from St. James AME Church 
to City-County Plaza in subfreezing temperatures to celebrate the life and 
mission of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and to call for his work to continue.
The group met for prayer and singing before the march, when the Rev. Freddie 
F. Johnson reminded them of Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount.
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God," 
he said to a chorus of amens and hallelujahs.
Louis Isaac, retired director of human resources at the VA Medical center, 
was there with Jordan Taylor, 10.
"I like Martin Luther King," Taylor said. "I think he was a good person who 
tried to let people be free without being judged by their color."
Isaac came because he's grateful to be living King's dream.

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"I grew up in a segregated society," he said. "But I grew up to be a human 
resources director."
Barbara Davis came, as she has for the last 15 or so years, to pray for peace.
"I used to bring my daughter, and now she's 21 and going to peace marches at 
her college," Davis said. "I love the community- building here and the 
standing of black and white together. I love to see the children here to learn the 
importance of peace."
The march started out perhaps 1,000 strong, organizers said, but the crowd 
thinned because of the cold. Midway through the ceremonies at City-County Plaza, 
Ken Jones, youth committee chair of the Martin Luther King Committee of 
Asheville-Buncombe County, said he counted more than 600.
The march was peppered with signs and banners, from Women in Black to 
Veterans for Peace and vegetarians, who held a banner proclaiming, "Peace begins in 
the kitchen."
Matt Dotson-Smith brought his two daughters, Serena and Maya. Both are too 
young to understand the implications of King's work, but Dotson-Smith wants them 
to grow up embracing principles of peace and justice.
Jasmine Moore, 14, a student at Asheville Middle School, has read about King 
in her history books. She can't imagine living in the society described by 
speaker Jacqueline Hallum.
"Remember when we could not gather here?" she asked the crowd. "Remember when 
we couldn't go into libraries or restaurants or other places without our 
papers or a good white person to accompany us? Our children don't remember, that 
and we must teach them."
Rabbi Robert Ratner of Temple Beth Ha-Tephila reminded the crowd of the 
beginning of the civil rights movement, when "a shy, quiet, timid seamstress 
refused to give up her seat on the bus so a white man could sit. I want all you shy, 
quiet, timid people to hear this."
Rosa Parks was seated in the African-American section of the bus, but when 
seats for whites ran out, African Americans were forced to stand so whites could 
sit. Parks' refusal to move and subsequent arrest and conviction sparked a 
381-day bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., led and orchestrated by then 
27-year-old Martin Luther King.
"The heroes were the common folk who stuck with the boycott despite the 
violence done to them by the Ku Klux Klan," he said. "And all the while, Dr. King 
exhorted them to stick with nonviolent protest."
The Rev. Kevin Ogden, the new pastor of Hill Street Baptist Church, preached 
a fiery sermon on "dreaming beyond our expectations." He urged people to stop 
blaming each other and take responsibility for their own lives.
"We owe Dr. King nothing less than to live in reconciliation and peaceful 
co-habitation," he said.
The Rev. Inez Ray, pastor of Ray of Hope Nondenominational Church in West 
Asheville, urged everyone, black and white, to "Wake up, sit up, stand up and 
never shut up!
"Speak out against the drug dealers who prey on our children," she said. 
"Make an appointment with your school superintendent today to ask why there are so 
few black teachers in the classrooms. Wake up, sit up, stand up and never 
shut up! Each one of us can make a difference."
Contact Boyd at 232-2922 or LBoyd at CITIZEN-TIMES.com.
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