MLK Parade attendees push for progress, awareness for next generation

BEACON - Much like the long-lasting message of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Naajia Renee Villa said the work her generation does now will affect the future. 

"We're in a generation now that needs to come together more than ever, especially with Black Lives Matter and the Colin Kaepernick protest," the 16-year-old Hyde Park resident said, referring to social justice activism, including the former NFL player kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality. "Because we realize if we don't come together now, then everything that Martin Luther King stood for is going to be for nothing."

Villa was one of over 200 people who honored King's legacy Monday at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration in Beacon.

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Before taking to the brisk streets outside Springfield Baptist Church for the fifth annual Pete Seeger and Southern Dutchess Coalition community Rev. Dr. King Parade, Villa expressed that, from her perspective, King's work must not just be remembered, but continued. 

"We're integrated, but sometimes it doesn't feel that way," she said. "Sometimes it feels like we're still separated, no matter what. I go to a school where all races are accepted. But if it's taught in the home that you can't accept your neighbor because of their skin color or their sexuality, then everything that Martin Luther King taught is going to go in the trash." 

Flurries fell as parade-goers sang and held up photos of King, along with signs promoting unity and peace.

Jason Walker, 16, said the parade allows him to reflect on "the things that happened back then, and what has changed and what didn't change."

"Martin Luther King left a legacy, but he didn't conquer it all," the city of Poughkeepsie resident said. "Things going on back then are still happening now. We're so racially divided, the whole nation. You look at somebody a certain way because of their skin, and it shouldn't be that way now." 

The annual birthday celebration began 40 years ago with founder the Rev. Barbara E. Baker, and includes an essay contest, community lunch and a talent show. 

The day has grown "in leaps and bounds" since its conception, said the Rev. Linda White. 

"Churches, non-church people, interfaith. It's just been overwhelming, (the) amount of support from the community," she said. "Thank God for the now deceased Pete Seeger, he's really gotten the community together for this." 

It was Seeger, the late folk icon and activist who lived near Beacon, and the Beacon Sloop Club that began the annual parade five years ago. Seeger wanted a local event that ensured Martin Luther King Jr. Day was more than just a day off from school and work, but a time to reflect on what King did for the civil rights movement. 

The day recognizes the Jan. 15 birthday of the slain civil rights leader, who was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. 

"This is to honor somebody that paved the way for them," said Villa's mother, Angela Bowman. "And for myself as well." 

Had is not been for "his fight, and his struggle," Bowman said she would never have been able to earn her master's degree, or be working toward her doctorate in education.

But, Bowman said, racism is still real and ever-present. And to help end it, it's important to teach the younger generation. 

"Young black men are an endangered species. You read about it all the time, how they're being hurt, being killed, by people in authority," she said. "They need to understand the struggle of where we came from in order to respect where we are, and have hope for the future." 

Abbott Brant: abrant@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4809; Twitter: @AbbottBrantPoJo