NWMSU Students Hold Peace March, Honor MLK
By: William Seay
Updated: January 16, 2012
They marched from the campus of Northwest Missouri State University to the courthouse, holding signs bearing famous King quotes and chanting "MLK! Today is the day!"
"I loved how we all came together with it. It opened up my eyes. Whites, blacks, Hispanics, whoever - we all came together as one," said Kiva Coppage, one of the marchers.
The peace march was organized by Steve Bryant, NWMSU's director of Intercultural Affairs.
Bryant brought in two guest speakers who reminded the crowd that Dr. King's dream has still yet to be completely fulfilled.
"You can look at it as how far we have come or how far we have left to go. I look at it from a standpoint of how far we have left to go. We've come some distance but there is a distance we still have to travel," said guest speaker (and NWMSU alum) Tyron Bates, Jr.
Bates says the goal is to reach harmony within humankind.
Carl Stafford delivered a fiery speech "from the heart" on the steps of the courthouse.
Leading the crowd in a chant of "Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud!" Stafford says he's gets invigorated when speaking about MLK's message.
"My favorite speech by Dr. Martin Luther King was "I've Seen the Promised Land." He knew he may not get there. He gave the speech right before he was assassinated. He knows the Promised Land is not here yet," Stafford said.
And whether it be peace or unity or equality or justice or all of the above, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s message is still alive in Maryville.
