Why many took part in the State College, Penn State ‘March for Peace’ — and what it meant
About 100 Penn State students, faculty and community members — many in scarves and winter caps — braved a chilly and overcast Wednesday afternoon in a “March for Peace” to help show Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of freedom and justice remains very much alive.
The crowd, a melting pot of people and cultures, marched to tunes like “When the Saints Go Marching In” with music blaring from drums, a saxophone and trumpet. They started at Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center, then stopped for brief remarks at Old Main before marching — or, in some cases, dancing — off-campus to State College’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza on Fraser Street.
“The dream is not dead. It did not die in ‘68,” said longtime activist Charles Dumas, a retired professor referring to the year MLK was assassinated. “It’s not dead today in ‘23. We are the dream.”
Some in the crowd nodded and shouted back: “Yes we are! Yes we are!”
Dumas repeated from the steps of Old Main: “We are the dream — and now we’re gonna march.”
Many toted signs during the music-filled march that continued up the Allen Street sidewalk and across Beaver Avenue, as the sight caused a number of downtown passers-by to crane their necks or snap photos. Some posterboards demanded the Center for Racial Justice at Penn State, a project controversially canceled by university president Neeli Bendapudi. Others simply called for an end to racism, while others quoted King himself.
Dumas, in a Penn State beanie, smiled while holding a sign of his own with an MLK quote: “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle.”
It was believed the march in honor of King, held three days after what would’ve been his 94th birthday, was the first such march to be co-organized by both the borough and university. Organizers hoped to make this an annual event, something that would only grow as time marches on.
“I was just thrilled to see the buy-in, to see the participation,” said Gary Abdullah, a member of the borough’s MLK Plaza Committee, which recently became a permanent borough committee that will serve in an advisory role on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.
Flowers, candles and messages remained scattered near the MLK Plaza Mural in memory of Black men and women killed by police, such as Breonna Taylor. Messages scrawled in chalk sat alongside photos that simply read, “Rest in peace.” The name of Osaze Osagie, a State College man killed by police in 2019, appeared among them, a somber reminder of the community’s own scars.
After Mayor Ezra Nanes finished a speech that honored King and acknowledged work left to be done, a man in the crowd shouted about Osagie and asked the mayor to publicly denounce the police department and demand justice for the family. Nanes nodded, spoke softly and responded: “I believe that the Osagie family deserves justice.”
He told the man his question — When will you help support the prosecution of the officer who murdered Osagie? — was a question he had good reason to ask, but he tried not to comment further. The uncomfortable exchange lasted less than 90 seconds and, when Nanes handed the microphone to a co-organizer, the crowd overwhelmingly applauded the mayor. Both the mayor and the man attended the reception afterward.
“Everyone is welcome because we care for each other,” said Sita Frederick, a co-organizer and Penn State’s director of the Center for the Performing Arts. “Are there boundaries for that? Certainly. If someone would come with a hateful message, then that’s where we have to draw the line because we’re standing up for peace and love. It doesn’t mean we can’t have tension or disagreement. That’s different.”
A handful of graduate students also attended with posters and signs demanding human rights for people in Afghanistan and Iran, moves that organizers welcomed. Elham Rahimi, a member of the Iranian Student Association, clutched her country’s flag and said she wanted to participate in the demonstration because MLK’s dream of equal rights was for every people.
“My dream is to have a free country, a Democratic country,” she said.
Added her Iranian friend Younes Shekarian: “I have a dream of having a liberal democracy in my home country.”
To many, their messages were a reminder that King’s words — and Wednesday’s march — went beyond the African American community and even the U.S.
“It is important to remember that Dr. King represented social justice. He represented racial equity. He represented a lot of things that have had repercussions for people way beyond just the Black people,” Abdullah said. “His impact has been felt in so many, many areas that it’s hard to quantify.
“But we want to continue to emphasize those initiatives aren’t done. The problems aren’t solved. It’s not, ‘Everything’s hunky dory.’ ... And so, yes, we want to keep going.”
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 5:20 PM.
