Rescheduled Peace and Justice March recalls King's message of unity

Mar. 20—ANDERSON — As a frigid wind whipped the flag she was holding representing the country of South Sudan, Ae'rrianna Hollonquest didn't hesitate when asked why she was participating in Anderson University's annual Peace and Justice March.

"Honestly, I love when we are able to support everybody in the community," said Hollonquest, a freshman from Indianapolis studying musical theater at AU. "It doesn't matter if you're Black, white or whatever...it's very good to make sure that everybody knows that you're being supported in some kind of way, shape or form."

Hollonquest was among about 100 people who marched from Reardon Auditorum to Dickmann Town Center Tuesday in an annual reprise of an event that began two years after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington, D.C.

Tuesday's march took place nearly 59 years to the day after AU students staged a sympathy march to demonstrate solidarity with protesters who were planning marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Those marches in support of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 inspired many students at then-Anderson College to strengthen their commitment to the civil rights movement.

"Part of what we're doing is honoring those people," said Brian Martin, director of the Center for Intercultural Engagement at Anderson University. "We believe that they help remind us that we want to be a welcoming, inclusive, loving community to people of all races, ethnicities and nationalities."

The march normally coincides with the city's Martin Luther King Day observances in January, but single-digit temperatures that weekend prompted organizers to reschedule it for Tuesday.

Marchers said they were glad the event was rescheduled in large part because many of the ideals that King espoused remain worthy of respect and consideration.

"I think his dream was unity, his dream was to see empowerment of people that weren't being empowered, and so I think that still stands true today," said Alaina Fridley, area coordinator for Morrison Hall on the AU campus. "We want to stand for empowerment, even in the smallest of ways up to the biggest of ways."

Flags from nearly a dozen nations in Africa, the Caribbean and South America were part of the procession, signifying the university's commitment to fostering a supportive environment for everyone in the community, Martin said.

"We are a multicultural university that wants to make sure everyone — every person, regardless of their race, ethnicity, nationality — feels welcome here," Martin told a crowd gathered in the Reardon Auditorium lobby before the march began. "We want to support everyone so that we can reflect what God wants us to do as far as being people who are reflecting the love of Jesus to everyone."

Hollonquest said that although significant progress has been realized on many fronts in advancing King's cause, work remains in many areas as well.

"Basically, what we're fighting for, we're still fighting for it," she said. "It doesn't matter how long it takes. God will make a way as soon as He wants to. We're just riding along wherever God plans, and that's beautiful to me."

Follow Andy Knight on Twitter @Andrew_J_Knight, or call 765-640-4809.