Remembering Dr. King
Story by Elizabeth Gonzalez
Photos by Charisse Domingo, Abe Menor, Isabel Gonzalez

Click images to view photo essay

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day the train ride from San Jose to San Francisco, called the Freedom Train was different from any other day. The train had a family feeling to it and people weren't ignoring each other as usual, but looked at each other and smiled. Everywhere you looked you could see children with parents and aunts or uncles. “We're spending quality family time,” I heard one young girl say. And a lot of the young people I talked to said they were there to learn about Dr. King's life. Every part of the train was filled with different activity. On some you could hear beautiful gospel singing and on others there were teach-in's about Dr. King.

Once the train reached San Francisco people were disappointed to be bused to the Civic Center because for more than 15 years there have been marches to the Civic Center with thousands of people. It seemed that busing just wasn't the same and although there was more singing and camaraderie on the buses some people felt that Dr. King was about marching in the streets and this event wasn't completely reflecting him.

At the Civic Center, those people who come out year after year noticed that the crowd was significantly smaller than years previous, but also saw that the number of youth was higher and so the memory of the life and work of Dr. King will live on in them.