Irvine Marchers Recall Civil Rights Leader

Some students walked with lavender and white balloons tied on their backpacks. One mother rolled her baby along in a stroller.

About 100 high school and college students and community members marched from William R. Mason Regional Park to UC Irvine Friday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, chanting and waving placards.

“There aren’t as many (UCI students) . . . but (the march) lives on,” said Druemeka Irving, a UCI senior and president of the African American Student Union.

But the crowd was large enough to create a lively atmosphere as participants marched down the sidewalks, changing the chant at every stoplight.

Gloria Cortelli, a teacher at Irvine Unified School District’s S.E.L.F. Alternative school, said events like the march should be part of “an ongoing project.”

“It’s the responsibility of parents and teachers to instill anti-racism in the youth of America,” she said.

Rosa Carrasco, 16, one of the 10 S.E.L.F. students participating in the march, said she used to attend a high school where racially motivated fights happened all the time. “I came here today because I felt like I was a part of something,” she said.

“It’s good to have these high school students here--it means they have an understanding of the legacy,” said UCI Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Horace Mitchell. “They are the future leaders.”

The march started off at 11 a.m. with a moment of silence “for those who have marched before and those who will march after,” said Adisa Ajamu, a professor of black studies at San Francisco State. A former Irvine resident, he had flown to Orange County to participate in the march.

“This is more than a march,” he told the group, “it is (part of) an effort to find and defend our own reality. It is a statement, an affirmation of that.”

As the marchers headed up Harvard Avenue to the campus, Peter Bawler, a staffer at the student activities office, said the event “demonstrates our principles to the community. . . . It’s an expression of the greatness of Martin Luther King and what he truly stands for--achieving an integrated society.”

The march ended at the campus square, in front of a stage with loudspeakers blaring songs by musician Stevie Wonder. Several faculty members, administrators and student leaders spoke in honor of King, and excerpts from his speeches “The Drum Major’s Instinct” and “I Have a Dream” were played at intervals.

Associate Dean of Students Robert F. Gentry, Laguna Beach’s first openly gay mayor, told the crowd: “All oppression is oppression is oppression. . . . Your struggle is my struggle and my struggle is yours. I’m proud to be here today with my brothers and sisters of color.”