It's Martin Luther King Day, a day in which we remember and appreciate the civil rights pioneer, and what he stood for. While Dr. King was already well known in many circles prior to the event, for many, he first came to national prominence in 1963 during the March on Washington, as he delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech in front of 250,000 people.
When the 50th anniversary of that event rolled around last August, it got us thinking: What would get Houstonians to march? We have a reputation here in Houston of being generally pretty passive. Which is not to say we don't have our share of protests, or that we don't care – certainly Houstonians do. But in very general terms, we tend not to be on anyone's list of cities where you'd expect regular, massive, organized rallies.
So, on our show back on Aug. 29, we turned to you and asked: What's the civil rights issue of our time that could cause you to come together with your fellow Houstonians and march? What would cause Houston to, en masse, take up a cause? What would your 21st century march through Houston be about?
We listen back to that discussion, and the observations of two guests, community organizer and illustrator Maria Heg, and University of Houston African American Studies Program Manager LaShonda Williams.
