'He called us to action': March returns to Bakersfield for MLK Day

Jan. 18—Bakersfield residents honored the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with a march and celebration in the city's southeast Monday.

An event organized by the Bakersfield chapter of the NAACP drew nearly 100 to the park named after King on Monday afternoon. Nearly half of the attendees were teenagers and children, showing King's message remains relevant more than 50 years after his death.

"Our community continues to recognize the efforts and the bloodshed that Dr. King had to ultimately endure in order for us to be able to enjoy the freedoms that we have today," said Patrick Jackson Jr., president of the local chapter of the NAACP.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when many politicians and public figures quote the late civil rights leader, Jackson urged local residents to stay true to King's message.

"He called us to action," Jackson said, "not just to remember what he was able to do, but call us to action to be able to do what we can as a day of service for our communities."

Monday marked the first time the march had returned to Bakersfield since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Participants walked from MLK Park to the St. Peter Restoration Community Christian Ministries on East Brundage Lane. A collection of Black-owned businesses, selling everything from popcorn to artwork, greeted the marchers when they arrived at the church. Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh, Supervisor Leticia Perez and Councilman Eric Arias marched alongside residents during the event.

"Us coming together is a sign of us reviving ourselves and remembering what we are supposed to do on a regular basis," Jackson continued. "By us being able to have that year off, we're even more excited to be able to come together and see each other again."

It was the first time the march had happened since the death of George Floyd in Minnesota shined an international spotlight on policing policies in the United States, and it occurred against a backdrop of President Joe Biden attempting to pass voter-protection legislation in Congress.

For Kymora Harris, a 17-year-old marcher who attended as part of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, the march was a way to show King's message has not faded with the passage of time.

"Everything he did stands out because there wasn't a lot of people who could stand up for their rights, and he proved the way for people to do so," she said. "MLK Day is a way for us to get together and show that we support each other."

Delta Sigma Theta sorority member Karla Young, who attended the march with Harris, echoed the sentiment felt by many at the march.

"Every day there should be some type of acknowledgment, some type of responsibility that we are upholding in regards to his message of justice and peace and just being able to work together as a society," she said. "Yes, we have today, but we should celebrate every day, we should do something every day, the community, individually and collectively."

You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC.