Being from St. Louis, it's sad to think that we could have had a much different role in the history of equality for African Americans. That definitely had an effect on me growing up. I remember reenacting the court case during a field trip in Elementary or Middle school. It was a choose your own ending kind of play so that we could change history if we deemed to do so. It was probably
also so little kids wouldn't have to abstain from granting someone his freedom and teach us about equality.
As we listened to gospel singers, speeches on the state of our present fight for equality, and prayers from community pastors, I felt extremely honored to be wearing my AmeriCorps "A". This was a day of service, instead of a day off of school or work. While I was going to be marching in the Martin Luther King Day Parade, half of my team was out in the neighborhoods of St. Louis passing out energy efficient light bulbs as part of our annual service project. I would also be going back to the office to continue my position this month as Volunteer Reception Center Coordinator for the New Year's Eve Tornado.
Marching in the Parade was also a first for me this year. I'm still in awe of all of the things that I hadn't done in St. Louis and Missouri until this year with Americorps. The parade route led us through North City, which is known for low-income housing, poverty, and gang violence but today it was filled with a group of people that were not only remembering MLK's dream but exclaiming that work was still to be done. One of the very few news reports I've actually listened to this year described the shooting of a young man just a few blocks away from the streets we were marching on. The day was definitely a sobering reminder of our past but also gave me a lot of hope for our future.
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