MLK Day...

the following is an article copied from the Houston Chronicle:

Houston's rival MLK parades still marching separately

Bickering aside, organizers of Houston’s two dueling Martin Luther King Jr. Day parades expect larger-than-usual turnouts of revelers wanting to celebrate on the eve of the inauguration of the nation’s first black president.
The MLK Parade Foundation will host the lone downtown event at 10 a.m. Monday, while the rival Black Heritage Society will march at noon on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Ovide Duncantell, founder of the Black Heritage Society, said he moved his parade to the south Houston neighborhood after he lost out on the sole permit for the downtown parade. He vowed to be first in line for the downtown parade in 2010.

Despite the historic nature of this year’s event, organizers of Houston’s rival MLK parades said they don’t feel compelled to unify.

MLK Jr. Boulevard should be a perfect backdrop, Duncantell said, for his parade, themed “I Have a Dream; I am the Dream,” referring to King’s vision and Barack Obama’s election.

“We’re combining our celebration with the inauguration,” the 72-year-old said. “The little people won’t be able to go to Washington. They’re going to dovetail into anything they believe has connectivity between Dr. King and what we consider a product of Dr. King’s dream”

The 31-year-old parade was originally held on the street named after the slain civil rights leader before being moved downtown several years later at the request of patrons, he said.

Organizers, still scrambling to solidify the details of their parade, said they’re making the best of returning the grass-roots event to the community.

“We’re going to enjoy it,” Duncantell said. “We’re not complaining. One thing about us, We’re soldiers.”
Duncantell’s Black Heritage Society has been in a tug of war with the MLK Parade Foundation over hosting the main downtown parade for years.

Coin flip

The City Council intervened a few years ago by revising Houston’s parade ordinance to allow a single downtown parade per day. Three others are allowed throughout the city. It was a coin flip that allowed Duncantell’s group the covered downtown permit last year.

Susan Christian, deputy director of the mayor’s office of special events, said she hopes the two events have strong turnouts.

“I’m always very hopeful that both entities will have great success in the places that they’re producing their parades this year,” she said. “It’s a time of unity.”

But allowing more than one parade in downtown is out of the question, she said.

“We have to manage traffic and we have to be very conscious,” Christian said. “We want to be a good neighbor.”

High expectations

Charles Stamps, chairman of the MLK Parade Foundation, said he expects record turnout at his event, which is expected to include 15 floats, 37 marching bands and about 36,000 participants. The theme is “The Color of Unity.”

Obama’s inauguration signifies the culmination of part of King’s dream, as well as the vision of other civil rights leaders, he said.

“It’s an exciting time for the entire nation. I’m personally on cloud nine,” he said. “The timing is perfect — Dr. King’s birthday, the vision he had and the inauguration of the nation’s first black president.”


Funny, that when you look at the websites of the 2 groups mentioned, they say that their purpose is to promote racial harmony. I guess harmony amongst themselves doesn't count...

Black Heritage Society Parade (link)

MLK Parade Foundation (link)

Well, either way, I hope those folks have a good time with their parades. I'll be at work.