King’s Nonviolent Legacy Invoked in War on Gangs

Although many in Homeroom 321 at George Washington High School weren’t born when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, his message of nonviolence was on their minds Tuesday morning as they and other students commemmorated his birthday.

“If he were here, he’d be doing a lot about gang violence,” said Stacy Allen, a 17-year-old senior at the South-Central Los Angeles school. “But he isn’t. God isn’t going to send someone here in his place. We have to do something ourselves--nonviolently.”

Demini Charlot, also 17, agreed: “There won’t be another King. It has to start with ourselves. It’s (nonviolence) the only way. Still, it would have been nice to get it straight from the horse’s mouth.”

Others listening nodded in agreement.

“It’s going to be tough,” one student admitted.

The challenge of using nonviolence to deal with the street gang problem repeatedly surfaced during rap sessions involving many of the 3,000 students at Washington’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium.

About 300 students representing each of Los Angeles’ 48 other high schools also attended the symposium, which included discussion groups, a flag-raising ceremony and a school-wide assembly. Some students from Washington’s sister school, Hemet High School in Riverside County, also attended.

The symposium was one of several activities throughout Los Angeles to commemorate the slain civil rights leader’s birthday, Jan. 15.

During one Washington classroom session on nonviolent solutions to street violence, gang members could be heard shouting gang slogans outside in the hallway. The 30 or so students momentarily paused to listen to the disturbance outside, but then continued their discussion.

In another instance, one gang member told a reporter he appreciated the progress made by blacks as a result of King’s principles and the civil rights movement.

“But hey,” the gang member said, “Dr. King has a reputation. So do I.”

Jacquelyn Taylor, a junior, spoke about the challenge toward nonviolence to rousing cheers at the closing assembly.

“Unity is the greatest form of strength in the world and Dr. King did not want his people to separate,” she said. “Many blacks have joined gangs . . . beginning to fight against each other. Stop, look and listen. Return back to Dr. King’s loving arms of harmony. Let Dr. King’s dream live forever.”

The theme of this year’s symposium--”We Can’t Wait”--reflected the growing urgency to deal with major problems facing all races, not just blacks, symposium organizers said.

When asked what they could do to stop gang violence, several students said that they had participated last year in a demonstration and march opposing street gangs, which began at the school.

“It’s the least any of us can do,” said one of them, Bernadette Durley, a 17-year-old senior.

“There are lots of problems out there--hunger, unemployment, the gangs--but we need to move along, to get on with solutions,” one Washington teacher, who asked not to be identified, said. “Otherwise, things like this march and this event (symposium) honoring Dr. King won’t mean much. It’ll just be talk, talk, talk.”

Washington high’s symposium was not the only activity this week for youngsters to mark King’s birthday. Los Angeles city schools were closed Monday in his honor.

Twenty-two high school students who were first-place winners in the Martin Luther King Jr. essay and arts contest were honored Monday in a ceremony at Exposition Park sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Los Angeles. King was head of the SCLC.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley received the YMCA’s Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Brotherhood on Tuesday.

“This award has a special significance to me as I recall the words of Dr. King--’I have a dream,’ ” Bradley said. “We all know that his work is not yet finished.”

Tuesday evening, a candlelight procession was held on the USC campus to honor King, who was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn.