Hundreds celebrate MLK Day in Corpus Christi

Hundreds of people marched in downtown Corpus Christi to honor the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The annual parade, held on the National MLK Day holiday, traveled along Leopard St. from the Nueces County Courthouse to the Episcopal Church on Upper Broadway, where vendors, food, music and more greeted the crowd. 
The Corpus Christi Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority began the march in Corpus Christi 30 years ago. An organization of college educated women, the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is committed to constructive development of its members and to public service with a primary focus on the Black community. A non-profit, it provides assistance and support through established programs in local communities around the world. The Corpus Christi chapter serves Nueces, Kleberg, Aransas and San Patricio counties. 

History of MLK Day

MLK Day commemorates the birthday of the famed civil rights leader whose work helped end legal segregation and help passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He was born on Jan. 15, 1929, although the holiday is held on the third Monday in January to provide a three day holiday so that family members could spend more time together — as per the dictates of  the Uniform Monday Holiday Act which had been approved 20 years ealier.
The bill that established the holiday was passed in 1983. The first official celebration was in 1986. 
A Baptist minister and social activist, King was an advocate of peaceful protests. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. 
As a young man, he earned a sociology degree from Morehouse College and attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He was an excellent student, serving as student body president and valedictorian in college. After he received his doctorate, he and 60 other ministers and civil rights leaders founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to better organize black churches as a force behind their fight for equality. 
King’s list of achievements goes way beyond the few paragraphs offered here. His legacy was so strong it could not be stopped by the bullet that ended his life on the balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel. 
“Today, we celebrate the long arc of progress for which Dr. King and so many other leaders fought to bend toward a brighter day,” said President Barack Obama in his recent official presidential proclamation honoring the day. “It is our mission to fulfill his vision of a Nation devoted to rejecting bigotry in all its forms; to rising above cynicism and the belief that we cannot change; and to cherishing dignity and opportunity not only for our own daughters and sons, but also for our neighbors' children.”
Obama urged Americans to devote the day to public service in honor of Dr. King's own service to the cause of freedom and equality.