March for Martin
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH) - Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Author: Photos by Malinda Hartong/The Enquirer, Rebecca Goodman rgoodman@enquirer.com
DOWNTOWN COMMEMORATION

By Rebecca Goodman
rgoodman@enquirer.com

Several hundred braved cold temperatures Monday morning to march from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center to Fountain Square for a prayer service to celebrate the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Present in spirit was Barack Obama, the first African-American to be elected president of the United States.

Robert Clay, a staff member of the office of multicultural affairs at Xavier University, came downtown to the annual march for the first time.

"Obama has called people to act and see all the possibilities," Clay said.

People see options – perhaps more so than at any time since King 's assassination in 1968, Clay said. "There's still work to be done," he said. "I believe (Obama) is the right man to pull it off."

Although the times and the men are different, there is an obvious connection between King and Obama, said Tekeia Howard, also with the XU office of multicultural affairs. She believes the goal of King – to merge disparate factions of American society – is being carried on by Obama.

"This march exemplifies that – going to Fountain Square and going forward," she said.

This was the 34th year for the march, which is organized by the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition. The group gathered at the Freedom Center and marched north on Vine Street, stopping at Fountain Square for an interfaith prayer service.

Young and old, black and white bowed their heads and joined hands as the Rev. William Land, pastor of First United Church of Christ in College Hill and First United Christian Church in Xenia, offered a rousing prayer.

Afterward they bid happy birthday to King then marched to Music Hall to celebrate.

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