Discover facts about the first official MLK March in 1987 including 2 famous attendees, plus why San Antonio hosts what's considered the nation's largest march.
At one point during San Antonio 's first official Martin Luther King Jr. March in 1987, the Rev. Raymond Callies turned to his 27-year-old son and said, “ Arlington , look behind you.” The father and son stood near an East Side railroad underpass on what once was Nebraska Street .
Just a decade prior it had been renamed Martin Luther King Drive in honor of the slain civil rights leader. The Callies had marched through the area in King's name since at least the late 1960s. Only those processions focused more on the need for traffic lights and other infrastructure improvements to the East Side and drew maybe two or three dozen people. But on that fair Jan. 19, 1987, Arlington Callies turned around to see thousands of men, women and children, Black, brown and white, linked arm-in-arm to celebrate King’s birthday and legacy. “I would say the atmosphere was electric,” said Arlington Callies, who runs a real estate brokerage in San Antonio with his wife, Pamela. “There was a sense of togetherness, bonding if I may say, and people just excited to be a part of it.” That excitement returns Monday with the 38th Martin Luther King Jr. March and Celebration. The march begins at 10 a.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, 3501 Martin Luther King Drive, and concludes 3 miles down the road at Pittman-Sullivan Park, 1110 Iowa St. 'WE ARE NEIGHBORS:' DreamWeek's leaders put focus on unity, kindness Considered the largest MLK March in the nation, the San Antonio procession draws more than 300,000 participants. The diverse throng blankets the East Side route with boots and sneakers on the ground and signs and songs raised to the skies. This year's march theme is 'We are the dream... It takes all of us.' And with last year’s march postponed due to severe weather, attendees no doubt are extra excited to take such solidarity back to the streets in King's name. Callies has honored his late father's role in that civic spectacle with his 2020 self-published book, 'The Man Behind the March: The Life and Legacy of Rev. Dr. R.A. Callies, Sr.' And if Callies gets his wish, that story will reach an even bigger audience on the big screen. He noted an adaptation called 'March' is in development with filmmaker and San Antonio native Shanna Byrd. Of course, every march begins with a first step. Here are some enlightening facts about how San Antonio’s MLK March got its start and how it continues to set the pace for honoring King's dream. The Rev. Callies led MLK marches long before 1987. The Rev. Callies, who died in 2011 from cancer at age 82, was a San Antonio teacher and pastor who often took to the streets to advocate for the East Side. That advocacy dovetailed with championing King's message of civil rights and equality, especially after King's assassination April 4, 1968. Just two days after King's death, Callies led what many consider the first MLK March in San Antonio. He and a group of around a dozen people walked down East Commerce Street to HemisFair Plaza and laid a wreath in remembrance of King. This on the same day the 1968 World's Fair opened and put San Antonio on a global stage. The next year, Callies led around two dozen people from behind the wheel of a red Ford pickup that blasted King's 'I Have A Dream' speech from giant speakers. Arlington later drove that pickup as his father continued his MLK marches well into 1970s and '80s. Callies helped codify King's name throughout the route of the San Antonio march. In the early years after King's assassination, the Rev. Callies petitioned the city to rename an East Side street after King, as well as erect a statue of King and establish a plaza for its home. Those efforts led to the 1971 opening of MLK Park, which once was a starting point for the march. In 1973, the intersection of East Houston Street and North New Braunfels Avenue was deemed Martin Luther King Plaza, the original endpoint of the march. And Martin Luther King Drive, the main artery of the march, got its name in 1977. As for the King statue, Callies and several young members of his Youth Leadership for Community Progress took five years to raise the necessary funds to complete the project by taking donations at MLK Plaza with red coffee cans. The statue's 1982 unveiling drew around 5,000 well-wishers, a harbinger of the crowds to come. 'THE DREAM MUST CONTINUE': SAISD to overhaul school named after MLK on the East Side 'Thank God for Mayor Henry Cisneros.' In 1983, the third Monday in January was designated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but it wasn't officially observed until 1986. That same year, then-Mayor Henry Cisneros attended the MLK Day festivities in Atlanta, King's birthplace and final resting place. He also joined Callies for one of his MLK marches in San Antonio. The events inspired Cisneros to form the San Antonio Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, better known as the MLK Commission, and make the march an official city event starting in 1987. 'I'll tell you, thank God for Mayor Henry Cisneros,' Callies said. 'He was impressed with my dad's passion. And when he it took the march to a whole different level.' Cisneros would once again join Rev. Callies for that first official march in King's honor, this time with first-time MLK Commission chair Aaronetta Pierce, now a Witte Museum trustee and advocate for African American art and culture, and several members of City Council near the head of the procession. Though it wasn't nearly as big as it is today. San Antonio's first official MLK March drew 10,000 people. Even Arlington Callies was shocked to hear only 10,000 people attended the first official MLK March, and he was there. Nevertheless, the Express-News and San Antonio Light reported 5,000 people actually marched from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School to Martin Luther King Plaza, where another 5,000 joined them. Nevertheless, those 10,000 strong celebrated King's birthday with an equally inspiring figure. Rosa Parks helped launch a San Antonio tradition. The civil rights icon attended the city's inaugural MLK March in poignant style, seated at the front of a restored 1950s bus provided by what's now VIA Metropolitan Transit. Parks sparked the civil rights movement on such a bus Dec. 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Ala. Pierce came up with the idea to invite Parks during one of several committees in the lead-up to the march. 'My mind just went off and I said, 'Of course, you realize Rosa Parks is still alive,' ' Pierce recalled. 'And I think that was important, that people could see somebody a simple lady that had the courage and indignation to use her voice. And I think that’s an empowering vision for everyone. So that was the power of having her here, I believe.' PIERCE: Witte Museum’s ‘Ode to Juneteenth’ unpacks slavery's place in Texas An Olympic gold medalist was there, too. Track and field legend Carl Lewis also attended the city's debut MLK March. 'Dr. King touched my family personally,' Lewis said in a Jan. 14, 1987, Express-News article. 'My parents were in some of those walks and were arrested with Dr. King. And my brothers were baptized by Dr. King.... It goes far beyond the surface. It's something very personal.' The significance of a garbage truck. The MLK March features a garbage truck as a symbol of King’s fight for the garbage workers in Memphis, Tenn., when he was assassinated. A look at the future of the MLK March. Current MLK Commission chair Dwayne Robinson has participated in the annual event since the early 1990s and has been involved with the commission since the same decade. He's seen the march grow beyond MLK Plaza to Pittman-Sullivan Park, and has welcomed notable names in civil rights history such as the late congressman John Lewis and King's elder son, Martin Luther King III. Robinson noted this year's commemorative speaker will be global activist Arndrea Waters King, the wife of King III. She will sign copies of her and her husband's new book, 'What is My Legacy?' The MLK March also will introduce QR codes that participants can scan to share photos and videos of the march, contribute to the MLK Scholarship Fund and learn more about the city's new Learn to Work program. And marchers are in store for two colorful new murals at the North New Braunfels overpass by San Antonio artist Kat Cadena and San Antonio art teacher Sonya Castro. MORE MARCH IMAGERY: Fort Sam Houston ISD middle schooler wins poster contest for San Antonio's MLK Day march Robinson said he still gets asked why San Antonio has such a large MLK March compared to King celebrations in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. His answer sounds like something the late Rev. Callies would have said to Arlington or anyone else seeing the city's enormous celebration for the first time. 'Forgive my expression,' Robinson said, 'but that’s the way San Antonians roll.'
MLK Commission Middle School Academy Ford SAISD Express-News Texas An Olympic Witte Museum's 'Ode To Juneteenth San Antonio Light Raymond Callies MLK Arlington Callies Henry Cisneros King Aaronetta Pierce Dwayne Robinson Pamela Arndrea Waters King R.A. King Shanna Byrd Carl Lewis King King King King King King King King Martin Luther King III John Lewis Kat Cadena Sonya Castro King King God Sr African American King San Antonio Martin Luther King Drive East Side Martin Luther King Plaza MLK Park Nebraska Street Arlington Pittman-Sullivan Park MLK Plaza East Houston Street 1110 Iowa St. Hemisfair Plaza East Commerce Street Atlanta Witte Museum North New Braunfels Avenue Rosa Parks Tenn. Memphis Fort Sam Houston ISD Washington D.C. Ala Montgomery MLK March World's Fair Celebration MLK Day VIA Metropolitan Transit Dreamweek Youth Leadership For Community Progress King III Learn To Work MLK Scholarship Fund The Man Behind The March: The Life And Legacy Of I Have A Dream What Is My Legacy
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