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Shackelford founded the organization Black Brothers Involvement/Black Sisters Involvement in 1987, and just weeks ago he was awarded Ohio's Martin Luther King Jr. Award for cultural awareness.
Monday's march comes just about three months before the 50th anniversary of King's assassination in April 1968 in Memphis, Tenn., making it an even more important one to participate in, Shackelford said. It was a cold and wet march, with one to three inches of snow falling throughout the day and temperatures dipping into the low 20s.
Marchers started near The Charles Drew Health Center on West Third Street and ended at the Dayton Convention Center, where they heard from Rev. Steve Saucer of Restoration Church in Dayton. Saucer told marchers that they needed to focus on being productive today “so that tomorrow is better.”
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“I hope to prick somebody’s heart so that we can together change the world one person at a time,” Saucer said just before the march began.
Participants on Monday called for unity in the face of charged political times under President Donald Trump. Trump has come under fire recently for reportedly using vulgarities to describe other countries, though he has denied the accusations and on Sunday said “I’m not a racist.”
The marchers carried signs with statements and images that have sparked political debates throughout the last few years.
One banner showed former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem and read “We Rise Up, Resist.” Several other signs read “Black Lives Matter,” while some displayed photos of King with quotes from his time as a civil rights leader.
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Though the march was a celebration of King’s legacy, it was meant to double as a political statement, Shackelford and other marchers said.
“We’ve got a long ways to go, and I really believe Martin Luther King Jr. would not be happy (today),” Shackelford said. “Being out here is a statement, in the snow, that we have a long ways to go, but we’re fighters, we’re freedom fighters, we’re hope-pushers and we must make a difference.”
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