Sisters Montserrat and Julieta Garibay hold "Black Lives Matter" signs at a drive-in Martin Luther King Jr. Day event hosted by the Austin Area Heritage Council on Monday.
Each January, Austinites march from the Martin Luther King Jr. statue on the UT Austin campus to the Capitol in honor of the civil rights leader. But this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the march was canceled and people instead gathered for a drive-in rally on MLK Day.
Only about 70 cars could register to attend, but the Austin Area Heritage Council also livestreamed the event for those at home. You can watch the rally here.
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Letisha Metayer sits with her daughters, Brooklyn and Arielyn, and their dog, Doc, in the parking lot of St. James Missionary Baptist Church to watch the rally.
Gabriel C. Pérez/KUT
The event featured musicians and speakers, including Dr. Leonard Moore, vice president for diversity and community engagement at UT Austin. "My challenge this morning," he told the crowd, "it is easy to celebrate King, but can you emulate him?"
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Charmin Greene performs at the event.
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Gloria and Quinn James watch the event from the parking lot.
Gabriel C. Pérez/KUT
"Dr. King was a man of peace, but he was not a man of appeasement," Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison told the crowd. "Don’t mistake his commitment to nonviolent action for willingness to bow out when things get tough. Turning the other cheek to racism and injustice and division now is like ignoring the symptoms of a deadly disease. Dr. King and his allies accomplished so very much exactly because they refused to take injustice sitting down and that action brought us all so much closer to realizing his dream. But in 2021 our national body is still not cured of the original sin of white supremacy. We still have so much work to do."
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Volunteers with Christ Embassy Travis Church hand out flags and pamphlets.
Due to COVID-19, Austin's annual MLK Day march and festival have been canceled. Instead, organizers are hosting a drive-in and will livestream the festivities for those at home.
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. pays tribute to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who would have turned 92 this week.
Marchers walked through Austin on Monday to honor the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights leader fought against racial inequality…
