The bone chilling cold didn’t stop area residents from coming out to honor the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On the federal holiday observed in his honor. About 150 or so people gathered in the Old Courthouse to hear remarks by local political figures ahead of the annual march between the courthouse and Harris-Stowe State University organized by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Committee of St. Louis.
What followed highlighted many of the most relevant political issues in St. Louis today, including the ongoing fight for a fifteen dollar minimum wage, the tension around the recent lawsuit filed by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.
The event was dedicated to the memories of James Buford and Norman R. Seay, and Michael McMillan and Merdean Fielding-Gales, serving in their roles as members of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Committee. McMillan received the William Bailey award for his work as President and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. To kick off the event, McMillan and Gales introduced several politicians, who spoke in the crowded rotunda behind a poster depicting Dr. King’s face.
After an invocation from Reverend LeSean Tarkington of St. Peter AME, Mayor Lyda Krewson began to speak. She had not spoken more than two words when booing began to echo around the rotunda from a large group of activists holding signs reading, “FIGHT FOR $15,” “HONOR FERGUSON, END RACISM,” and “UNION JUSTICE NOW.”
“It’s a time for reflection this day and every other day,” Mayor Krewson said, struggling to be heard over the crowd. “As I look around this rotunda today, I find inspiration in all of us with an embrace of the uncomfortable action it takes to make change.” She pointed out the Fight for $15 signs, and said, “You may know that on Friday I signed an executive order that all employees of the City of St. Louis will be paid fifteen an hour.”
Other politicians who spoke included Comptroller Darlene Green, Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed, and License Collector Mavis T. Thompson. Thompson noted that the efforts to bring a fifteen dollar minimum wage to city employees in fact began in her office three years ago, “We are very proud of that,” she said, then noted areas of concern, such as increasing racism and the treatment of unhoused people in St. Louis.
Shortly after Krewson’s speech, Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards admonished the activists who had heckled her throughout, saying “This is not a day to be political.”
“Dr. King wanted us to be together, he wanted us to fix problems,” Edwards continued. “He didn’t want us to start problems. We’ve been walking this walk a long time. I came to this walk when many of you were not even born … when people did not stand up and yell …This is a day to celebrate, this is not a day to be having politics.”
When Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner stood up to speak, however, the crowd’s booing turned to enthusiastic cheers. She invoked another quotation from Dr. King: “It is good to have laws. It is good to have a constitution and rights, but law, without justice, is death.” Gardner then called for freedom for Lamar Johnson, who will soon be serving his 25th year in prison for a murder that Gardner and others claim he did not commit. “Here in St. Louis City there remains a powerful few that seek to hold on to their power and influence by any costs,” Gardner said. “But what they do not know, what they do not realize, is that the people of St. Louis say enough is enough.”
After the politicians, activists and advocates took the stage. Zaki Baruti of the Universal African Peoples Organization (UAPO) used his platform to call for two things: national-scale opposition to war with Iran, and local-scale support for Kim Gardner. “The matter of concern that I’ll address is twofold,” he said. “One is that Dr. King, on April 4th of 1967 when speaking to the oppressed dealing with violence, said he could not deal with speaking to the violence of the oppressed until he could deal with the violence of the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, which is the U.S. government. So … there should be no war, no war with Iran. Remove troops in the spirit of Dr. King.” His second “matter of concern” was much more localized: “Hands off Kim Gardner,” he said, turning towards the Mayor. “And I must say in all due respect, when you have a city administration led by your mayor, through Julian Bush, pushing against Kim Gardner, we say hell no to that!” He led much of the crowd in chants of “hands off Kim Gardner!”
Eugene Hubbard, a veteran organizer with the Local 1 service workers’ union, spoke about the current advocacy by janitors for a fair wage. “While we clean some of the most notable buildings in the region, like U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, and county offices, we’re struggling to put food on the table for our families. When we march in these streets for equality, we do so in the spirit of Dr. King … janitors may take out your garbage, but we are not your trash. We do difficult work, respectable work, but it’s time we are respected as such.”
After an hour and a half of speakers, dance performances, and chants in the name of Dr. King the group – which included media, politicians, protestors made the three-mile march together.
