Balloons, drum lines, homemade banners, high kicks and high spirits sprawled across downtown Mesa on Monday afternoon, as citizens celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with Mesa’s annual MLK Parade.
This year’s mile-long parade on Center Street had 60 entries, ranging from the more traditional groups such as junior-high-school bands, community groups and churches, to less common groups such as horseback-riding groups, jump-rope squads and unicyclists, said parade co-chair Andrea Murphy.
Murphy said the majority of participants and volunteers were school-age, too young to have witnessed King’s civil-rights movement firsthand. Regardless, younger generations seem to have a grasp of the era’s message of equality and diversity she said.
“I think college-aged students really do appreciate the message,” Murphy said. “They probably had a lot to do with the election of Barack Obama [as president last November]. Our college generation is the one becoming more aware of the power you have to change the world.”
Although college students may appreciate King’s message, much of the youth involvement in the Mesa parade has historically stemmed from K-12 students.
ASU students have been noticeably unrepresented in the downtown Mesa festivities, Murphy said. Officials and participants in the parade encouraged students to make the trip from Tempe to Mesa to participate in future years.
“Not every person gets to go to college; it’s a privilege,” said Denise Heap, coordinator for East Valley LGBTQs for Change, a local gay and lesbian rights group that marched in the parade. Heap, who was active in the ASU gay- and lesbian rights groups while in college, encouraged students to become more involved with the holiday.
“With [the privilege of college] comes the responsibility to become involved as leaders in the community,” she said. “But instead I see [the ASU campuses] as closed off.”
However, there were signs of increased involvement by college students at the parade. Mesa Community College students from clubs such as MEChA, a Hispanic advocacy group, and the Black Student Union, volunteered their time by helping with parade organization and handing out donuts and water bottles.
“We do have MCC volunteers helping out, but absolutely, I would welcome ASU students who want to assist with setting up the parade next year,” Murphy said.
The weekend-long celebrations were arranged by the Mesa Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee, a volunteer nonprofit organization advocating community celebration of MLK Day since its recognition as a holiday by Mesa in 1996.
“We all have day jobs but volunteer our time to put on events,” Murphy said.
MCC MEChA club adviser Juanita Tarango, took Dr. King’s dedication to advocacy as inspiration for the club to volunteer their time Monday.
“Most people got the day off today, but we called it a ‘day on,’” Tarango said. “[King] practiced community activism, so that’s how we’re celebrating, by being active.”
To volunteer organizers like Murphy, King’s message is still too important to go unappreciated.
“I don’t even know where to start,” she said. “It would take me an hour to explain all the reasons why it’s important to take time to celebrate the meaning of this day.”
Although the meaning may defy words, parade volunteers expressed their devotion for Dr. King’s legacy through their actions.
“It’s a holiday for a reason,” Tarango said. “Celebrate it.”
Reach the reporter at tye.rabens@asu.edu.
