Greg Freeman: Together In Grief; St. Louisans Joined In A Peaceful March After The Assassination Of Martin; Luther King Jr.. 9/19/1999

Headline: TOGETHER IN GRIEF\ ST. LOUISANS JOINED IN A PEACEFUL MARCH AFTER THE ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Reporter: Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Sun., Sept. 19, 1999
Section: METRO, Page: C6, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

When an assassin's bullet ripped into the body of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the night of April 4, 1968, it also ripped into the heart of America, causing riots to erupt in major cities across the country.
In some cities, angry African-Americans took to the streets, torching stores and businesses, mostly in black neighborhoods.

But in St. Louis, Mayor Alfonso J. Cervantes went from one St. Louis television station to another, imploring residents to maintain calm. Except for a few minor incidents of vandalism, St. Louis streets remained peaceful. Officials that night quickly put down a potential riot of inmates at the City Jail.
Within hours, flags at schools were flown at half-staff. St. Louis County Supervisor Lawrence K. Roos issued a proclamation ordering the flag at the county courthouse to fly at half-staff as well. At St. Louis City Hall, a 15-minute memorial service was held in the rotunda with a 10-foot cross draped in black bunting.
A memorial Mass was said at St. Louis Cathedral, and people of all faiths showed up to honor King. Other services and memorials were held for King at churches throughout the city, the county and the Metro East area.

That wasn't enough for some, however. African-American leaders gathered at the Mid-City Community Congress, 4005 Delmar Boulevard, to determine a response.
Some, like representatives of the St. Louis Committee on Racial Equality, demanded that businesses and schools in the area shut down no later than 2 p.m. on April 5. "If that didn't occur, " said Solomon Rooks, chairman of CORE, "the result would be mobilization of our forces to let people know how black people are being hampered."

But others had a different idea. They suggested a mass march through the middle of St. Louis in King's memory. Representatives of both the militant and the more moderate African-American groups agreed that the march would be a good idea. Some of the militants decided to form patrols of their own during the march to make sure that it would be nonviolent.
    That idea for the march, with Cervantes' support, caught fire, and civil rights, religious and community leaders planned the event for Sunday, April 7. The march would begin at the Gateway Arch and continue to Forest Park.
    At 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, 7,000 people, including Cervantes, gathered at the Arch. Four hours later, when the marchers reached Forest Park, the group, walking arm-in-arm, had ballooned to 30,000.
    Instead of rioting, many had chosen to participate in this emotional tribute to the slain civil rights leader. Police officers were on duty during the march, and they were ordered to wear black armbands, a rare acknowledgment of the life of a black man. Aside from weeping and tears, the marchers were very quiet. It was unlike any march that St. Louis had seen.

Over the years, some have suggested that because of that march and other efforts to keep St. Louis peaceful in the aftermath of King's assassination, St. Louis never was forced to face up to its racial problems. Others, however, believe that the march and other such efforts saved St. Louis from much of the destruction that ravaged cities such as Detroit.
No one really knows what might have happened had the tribute to King not been held. But it had impact.
Each year, the march is re-enacted downtown on Jan. 15, King's birthday, open to all who want to celebrate his life. King, the warrior for civil rights, has not been forgotten in St. Louis.

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VOICES

"If you can't fly, run; if you can't run, walk; if you can't walk, crawl, but by all means keep moving."
-- The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., speaking at Washington University's Graham Chapel on Dec. 4, 1958.

"It was such a tragedy. A lot of people were crying in stores, on the streets, everywhere. A lot of black people didn't go to work for three to four days.
"I was in the march from downtown to Forest Park. I just thought it was the right thing to do. At Forest Park, people were everywhere, up in trees, wherever you looked.
"I also went to a memorial service at St. Louis Cathedral. I'll never forget the priest, a Rev. Paul GoPaul, who said: 'In Dr. King, I found God in a man.' "
-- Bennie G. Rodgers, former editor of the St. Louis American, discussing St. Louis reaction to King's assassination.

"It made absolutely no sense. King had taken the position that blacks could obtain civil rights through nonviolent means, and even that idea was considered so threatening to someone that they thought he had to be killed. I really thought this country was sick.
"I was also a bit afraid. We had already seen a lot of violent confrontations, and King had rejected that, and I think a majority of black Americans were following his leadership and demonstrating peacefully."
-- Daniel Schesch, co-founder of Bridges, a group designed to help reduce racial polarization, who was a graduate student at Washington University when King was killed.

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Key Facts

1929: Martin Luther King Jr. is born in Atlanta on Jan. 15.
1953: He marries Coretta Scott King.
1955: King is elected president of the Montgomery (Ala.) Improvement Association five days after Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to remove herself from the "white" section of a bus. The Montgomery bus boycott begins in December.
1957: King founds the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to expand the nonviolent struggle against racism and discrimination in the United States.
1958: On Dec. 4, King visits Washington University.
1963: King is jailed in Birmingham, Ala., on April 16 for protesting. While incarcerated, he writes "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." On Aug. 28, he delivers his most famous speech, "I Have a Dream, " in the nation's capital. More than 200,000 Americans who participated in the March on Washington --organized by King and others to call attention to black unemployment -- gather at the Lincoln Memorial to hear his address.
1966: King receives the Nobel Peace Prize in December in Oslo, Norway.
1968: King is shot and killed on April 4 in Memphis, Tenn., by James Earl Ray, a white drifter and escaped convict. Ray receives a 99-year prison sentence.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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