Accessible MLK march (Jan. 14)
One of many special things about Lucas’s school (Orca K-8) is that they have an annual tradition of doing a march through the Columbia City neighborhood celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on the Friday before the MLK Day weekend. For us it’s been a bittersweet event every year. On the one hand, it is beautiful to see kids and parents and teachers marching/parading through the community paying homage to Dr. King with messages of everything from “love everyone” at the kindergarten level up to much more political statements, especially in support of Black Lives Matter, from the older kids. But at the same time, each year we struggle with feeling left behind as the march moves so quickly that Burke and nurses and I can barely keep up pushing a wheelchair, and other kids in wheelchairs have not been able to participate at all. It felt like we were the only ones cringing at the irony of kids carrying signs with the school’s motto being “We All Belong” crayoned large, while the march planners left everyone in wheelchairs behind.
And then we raised the issue, and we weren’t the only ones scheming to make changes. It’s taken a few years, but this time around Lucas and his peers were definitely included in the march! It took a lot of people coming together to figure out how to keep the march moving through visible areas of our community, which necessitates going up and down some steep hills, AND getting kids there. But the PTSA this year committed the money to make it happen, so they got buses for all the kids with mobility difficulties, and some committed parents and teachers managed to hold the enthusiasm of young marchers in place long enough at the meeting point for the buses to unload. And so it happened — down the main boulevard (Rainier Avenue) marched and rolled ALL the kids! I wasn’t able to be there this year, so it was especially sweet to get the pictures and see that they pulled it off.
Lucas was happy about it, though probably not nearly as elated as Burke or me. Here’s what he wrote:
I went to a MLK (Martin Luthar King) zarch (march).
I partnered with Sadie.
Each person had a partner.
Sadie’s sign said WE ALL BELONG.
Mine said JUSTICE & PEACE.
It was realy fun.
My favorite part was the marching Band.
I felt happy at the march.
We celebrate him because he stood up for civil writes and black people.
We march for him because he gave great Speaches.
Also because he took part in big marches.
