In Eugene Monday hundreds gathered to march in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event, hosted by the NAACP, began at Autzen Stadium and traveled to downtown Eugene.
Piercy: “We gather here annually to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of fighting for equal rights.”
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy joined other community leaders in kicking off the MLK march.
Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein is Rabbi at Temple Beth Israel. She says events celebrating civil rights leaders are valuable for the entire community.
Rubenstein: “There’s always a benefit to stepping forward and meeting each other and saying: even though we don’t know each other, even though there’s still so much work to be done, we can step out of our different enclaves and come together.”
Kevin Marbury works with student groups at the University of Oregon. He says when people come together they recognize more similarities than differences.
Marbury: “Below the surface we all have some very common threads, some very common themes, and a day like this gives us an opportunity to remember those things and try to maybe get a little closer to one another.”
As participants crossed the ferry street bridge they could be heard chanting from blocks away.
Marchers: “Black lives matter….”
