Fort Worth residents say it’s important to remember MLK, ‘even in the midst of chaos’
Each year, in the week before the Monday that marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jarita Gardner teaches her two young kids a little bit about the civil rights icon.
She tells Tatum, her 7-year-old daughter, and Tristan, her 9-year-old son, about Dr. King’s work fighting for equality among all people, through nonviolent civil disobedience and his lyrical words that spoke truth to power. She tells them of his assassination at a Memphis hotel in 1968, when a white man shot him as he stood on a second-floor balcony. She has read them historical books, shown them videos, so they know what MLK Day is all about.
Tatum, when asked who MLK was, said he wanted people to be equal during a time when the law said they weren’t. The “white people made them sit in the back of the bus,” Tatum said quietly through her blue face mask.
Tristan said people need to remember MLK because “he wanted to make a difference.”
There haven’t been many in-person MLK events scheduled around Dallas-Fort Worth ahead of the holiday on Monday due to the coronavirus pandemic that’s been worsening across the region. But Jarita, a member of the Ethel Ransom Humanitarian Club in Fort Worth, heard of a socially distanced event on Saturday at The Ranch in southeast Fort Worth hosted by the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum.
Her children got to see the horses and ponies walking in circles on the grassy property, and even put on harnesses and helmets to climb to the top of a rock wall, all while remembering whose life they’re celebrating.
“That is just the part of them having fun — just the actual celebration of the life,” Jarita said over upbeat music playing from the loudspeakers. “That’s certainly not where it begins or ends. We don’t just come out and have a big barbecue and say it’s Martin Luther King Day.”
It’s important to think hopefully of his vision of humanity living in harmony, Jarita said, “even in the midst of chaos and everything that’s going on.”
People who spoke with the Star-Telegram at the event said King’s life-work of fighting for equality is especially relevant at a moment unprecedented in ways beyond the surging pandemic. In 2020, police killings of unarmed Black people, like that of George Floyd in Minneapolis, led to massive nationwide protests and urgent pleas for changes in policing.
A largely white mob overtook Capitol Hill police in Washington, D.C., in the first week of 2021 during a deadly riot that many people said exposed a racial double standard with law enforcement, as previous Black Lives Matter protests drew stricter security measures.
Jim Austin, the founder of the Western Heritage Museum, said on Saturday that it’s been a difficult time in the country for Black and brown people especially given recent police shootings. King, he said, “preached peace and love everyone — and that’s what we’re promoting here today.”
The museum, which owns The Ranch recreational complex, partnered with groups like the Tarrant County 911 District and local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops to host the MLK celebration Saturday that attracted a few dozen people. There were hot dogs cooking on the grill and no shortage of activities for children, and community members were dropping off canned goods to be distributed to food banks and shelters. Austin said they’ve been accepting donations all week to mark the holiday, somewhere around 1,000 cans.
“I’m just totally elated about our message of, ‘Let’s get along, let’s be together,’” he said. “I can’t say any more.”
Kavahna Houston, the president of the Union Pacific Railroad Black Employees network in Fort Worth, came to the event with some of her colleagues who have homes all across Texas.
Houston, a Flint resident, said, “We’re all in this together, no matter your color, no matter your sexuality — it does not matter.” King famously said he had a dream, she noted, “but let’s make it a reality.”
“We’re all humans at the end of the day,” Houston said. “Your job is to help another human.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 3:40 PM.
