Valley honors King

When Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, came to Southern Nevada in 1977, he was upset to see that there was nothing to honor slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I started the parade in 1982, even though I didn't know anything about parades -- I just knew something needed to be done," Williams, the founder of the Martin Luther King Day Committee, said. "It was appalling to see that Las Vegas had done nothing for him."

In the years since the first parade, not only was a street named for King, who was killed on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., but an elementary school also was named for him, and his birthday was made federal and state holiday.

Williams made his comments today prior to a peace rally in front of the Clark County Neighborhood Services Center, 2424 Martin Luther King Blvd., at Carey Avenue.

The rally, which culminated with a breakfast at the Clark County Government Center this morning, followed a weekend of events that included a downtown parade that drew an estimated 40,000 to 44,000 people.

The King ceremonies conclude tonight with two events, both starting at 7 p.m. One of the celebrations will be at the Cashman Center Theater, 850 Las Vegas Blvd. North, hosted by the Las Vegas Interfaith Council for Worker Justice. The other event will be at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, 2 S. Pecos Road, Henderson, and is hosted by the Henderson Interfaith Coalition.

Today's rally drew a small crowd that included dignitaries like City Councilman Lawrence Weekly, County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates and former U.S. Rep. John Ensign.

Gates announced that a 14-foot bronze statue of King will be erected on the northeast corner of King and Carey in time for next year's Martin Luther King Day festivities.

The rally and parade are important to Las Vegans like Marcia Washington, who was 11 years old and living in the racially divided Louisiana at the time King was assassinated.

"Events like this show what Dr. King and his dream were all about," said Washington, now 42. "A lot of the things he dreamed about like kids of all colors going to school together have come true. I was going to a segregated school at the time he was killed.

"But we still have a way to go, because a lot of racism still exists. Every year our parade committee still gets threats, and it's so unfortunate to see that in the year 2000."

Weekly, who was recently appointed as the fifth black to serve on the Las Vegas City Council, was 4 years old when King was assassinated.

"Of course, I did not understand what was going on, but as I grew up and became educated, I came to realize that Martin Luther King was one of the greatest men of the last century," Weekly said.

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