Town celebrates Rev. King

The recent decision to rename Airport Road as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard provided an added level of significance to the celebration of King’s birthday as members of the community gathered Monday to reflect on King’s life.

The event began at 9:30 a.m. outside the Franklin Street post office, with about 30 people who braved the bitter cold to hear speakers commemorate the legacy of King.

Within an hour, the crowd swelled to more than 100 people as town officials, local clergy and members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People spoke of King’s message and its impact on the community.

“There is no other day in the life of this country that brings together so many people,” said Justin Coleman, a ministerial intern at the University United Methodist Church.

King visited Chapel Hill on May 8, 1960, when he spoke at UNC’s Hill Hall and what is now the Hargraves Community Center. Almost a half-century later, the mix of races, genders and ages represented in the crowd gave truth to Coleman’s words.

Parents brought their children, tightly bundled in jackets and hats, to hear the words of the speakers and to join in the march.

Members of the local organization Elders for Peace held signs, while local union workers and representatives held banners asking for better benefits and coverage.

“I grew up in Chapel Hill, and I remember when people used to demonstrate here,” said 58-year-old Carlyle Poteat. “I feel like so many of the issues (King) spoke about are so relevant today.”

As the march began, more signs with words of peace and friendship — including lines from King’s speeches — were handed out.

Marchers sang and clapped as they weaved down Franklin Street and along Rosemary Street, ending at First Baptist Church on North Roberson Street.

At 11 a.m., the group filled the church with many county and town dignitaries in attendance. Local NAACP members and clergy from many congregations also attended.

The Airport Road renaming was a key focus of the service.

In his service address, Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy’s statement of the Town Council’s renaming decision was met with a standing ovation.

“It’s not just any old road, it’s a road that stretches from the edge of our town all the way into the heart of our town,” Foy said.

Keynote speaker William Barber centered his sermon on the symbolism of road-building as a metaphor for making changes.

“Chapel Hill may have just become a symbol for this nation,” Barber said. “Challenge the current course. Begin building in new ways. Build a road.”

Many involved in the march and service said the renaming issue brought a renewed energy to King’s importance to the community.

“The community is much more engaged today than they were a year ago,” said Carrboro Mayor Mike Nelson.

Council member Sally Greene added that the tapestry of roads named in King’s honor throughout the country serve as a national monument to him and the legacy of his message. “King is a great inspirational leader, and we’ve come to understand that more in the past year,” Greene said.

Barber also spoke of building a road of change that goes past the White House and the United Nations to spread King’s message of nonviolence at home and abroad.

“We must speak truth to power,” he said, reminding the crowd that King was not just a civil rights leader, but a speaker for workers’ rights.

Michelle Laws, an NAACP member and speaker, said she thought the energy of the community had been reinvigorated by the recent attention on King.

“Our government will continue to do the things they’re doing … unless we are the force that counteracts,” Laws said. “We need everyone to continue to work together across geographic and racial lines.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.