Macon leaders, community help ‘keep the dream alive’ at annual MLK memorial march

Beulah Dumas remembers when Macon was a segregated city.

“I’m old enough to know segregation,” she said. “I know about black white water fountains, sitting in the back of the bus, not having the same opportunities.”

At the annual Martin Luther King Annual citywide Memorial March on Monday, Dumas said she wants to keep “the dream” alive because the community still has work to do.

She hopes the march teaches young people the history of African Americans in the United States and helps them realize how many obstacles they have overcome, she said.

“They have so many opportunities. I want them to be able to take advantage of them,” Dumas said.

As hundreds of people gathered in front of the Macon-Bibb County Government Center after marching from different community centers across the county, chants of encouragement rang out throughout the crowd.

Lisa Watson, program coordinator for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, said the event grows every year with more people marching in celebration of Martin Luther King’s legacy.

“(We) got to keep the dream alive. (We) got to let them know that Dr. King, who paid the ultimate sacrifice with his life, was not in vain,” Watson said.

People started marching from the Booker T. Washington Center, the Rosa Jackson Center, the Frank Johnson Center and Memorial Gym at 11 a.m. and converged on the Government Center at noon.

Community leaders, including Macon-Bibb County Mayor Robert Reichert, spoke at the end of the march. He encouraged people to participate in the 2020 Census and the elections in 2020 during his speech.

“Keep Dr. King’s life and legacy alive by participating in our democracy,” Reichert said.

Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream...” speech Aug. 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood,” King said in his speech. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

After the speeches, community members were invited to the Evangelical Ministers’ Alliance’s Annual Martin Luther King Day Climaxing Church Celebration at Steward Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Derick Thomas, of Greater Bellevue Baptist Church, said he brought his children to the event to learn about history and reflect.

“I think it’s just a great day to pause and reflect on where we came from and where we’re going as a people and as a community at large,” he said.

Anthony Smith, a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., said he marched with his fraternity from the Frank Johnson Center, and believes the march brought the community together.

Fritz Artis, a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., said he marched with the fraternity from the Frank Johnson Center in Unionville.

The community has to keep King’s legacy alive so future generations understand that people shouldn’t be judged by race but by their character, he said.

“It was such a powerful legacy that united all races, and we can’t let that go away,” he said.

Other ways to celebrate

For people who missed the festivities on Monday, Mercer University is having an event Tuesday night to continue the celebration.

Mercer’s Minority Mentor Program and Office of Diversity and Inclusion is hosting an event called “Living the Dream MLK Day Celebration Event,” and it will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Willingham Auditorium on Mercer’s campus.

This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 2:43 PM.