By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rioans are invited to participate in the MLK Day March on Monday, Jan. 19.
The march is being organized and hosted by the city of Del Rio.
City Manager Shawna Burkhart reminded Del Rioans of the event during her “City Manager’s
Informational Update” during the city council’s first regular meeting of the year on Tuesday.
“(The march) begins at Star Park and ends at the county courthouse,” Burkhart said.
She said the march is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Monday, and anyone interested in joining the
march is asked to be at Star Park between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Monday. Star Park is located off
North Main Street between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street.
Burkhart also reminded those attending the event, “Signs are permitted, but they must be
respectful.”
Marchers will walk south on North Main Street to the Val Verde County Courthouse, 400 Pecan
St. It is approximately one mile from Star Park to the county courthouse.
Burkhart said, “Transportation will be available at the Val Verde courthouse and back to Star
Park.”
Walkers should wear comfortable shoes and a jacket, as Monday’s daytime temperatures are
forecast to be in the low 40s early in the morning.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday in the United States after President Ronald
Reagan signed off on it in 1983. It was first celebrated three years later in 1986.
The day falls near King’s birthday of Jan. 15 and honors his legacy of nonviolent protest during
the Civil Rights Movement.
Del Rio’s MLK Day events are the legacy of two women who organized and advocated for
honoring King’s memory and work locally: the late Joni Mae Jordan, who worked at Laughlin
Air Force Base for many years, and Diana Bejarano Salgado, a former Del Rio city
councilwoman. Their desire to commemorate King’s work was informed by their own life
experiences of racism and discrimination when they were young women growing up in the
region.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
