King Day Rallies Take Anti-War Tone

SEATTLE — Thousands of people — teenagers, spiritual leaders, parents with young children, veterans of past wars and others, representing several races and religions — took to the streets here on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to support social justice and oppose war in Iraq.

"I'm here today to say, 'Peace. We shall overcome,' " Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told an upbeat crowd of hundreds crammed into an indoor rally at Garfield High School while thousands more waited outside.

Murray, Mayor Greg Nickels, King County Councilman Larry Gossett and others addressed the gathering to thunderous applause, cheers and foot-stomping. The mile-long crowd — estimated by police at 5,000 strong — then headed downtown for a second rally at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building.

"You guys have re-energized my soul," said Murray, who recently came under fire for remarking that Osama Bin Laden — widely accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks — had spent years building goodwill in poor nations with financial aid.

"Today we remember how Martin Luther King Jr. overcame fear and uncertainty with a call for unity and brotherhood," Murray said. "America has made great progress, but we have yet to reach the mountaintop."

The throngs waved signs bearing the Martin Luther King Celebration Committee's slogan for day, "MLK's Call to Consciousness: Support the Poor, No More War."

Other signs read "No Blood for Oil," "Pre-emptive War — UnAmerican," "I'm not convinced, Mr. President." One pictured a stern Bin Laden with the message "I want you" — a play on vintage Uncle Sam recruitment posters — "to invade Iraq."

Retired World War II veteran O'Kelly McCluskey carried a "Veterans for Peace" sign as he waited for the march to begin.

"We grandfathers have a duty to pass on what we've learned in this life," he said. The pointlessness of war is "one of the most essential lessons."

There is more of a connection than ever now between the struggle for human rights and the struggle for peace, said therapist Melinda Rector. "We can't separate international from domestic issues any more."

"We really have a chance to stop this," she said. "Pre-body bag."

"We are against the war with Iraq ... because we know Martin Luther King would be," Gossett told the Garfield High rally.

Nickels and Murray both touched on affirmative action and President Bush's contention last week that it is a "fundamentally flawed" approach. Bush's comments were made as the U.S. Supreme Court considered a challenge to the University of Michigan's use of race as a factor in admissions.

During King's lifetime, U.S. presidents opened the doors to education for black children, Nickels said.

"This year, desecrating the memory of Martin Luther King, our president" spoke out for closing the doors at the Michigan school, Nickels said.

"If we agree that one of the keys to a better future is education, then we must" ensure those doors remain open, Murray said.

Dustin Washington of the People's Coalition for Justice, with a contingent of young activists, applauded the big turnout for MLK Day, but said it was "kind of a safe thing for us to do."

"We need to start standing up for justice 365 days a year," he told the Garfield crowd, noting that "Dr. King's message was anything but safe."

As the crowd spilled from the school grounds into the streets, a rag-tag brass band — the Anti-Fascist Marching Band — offered such activist favorites as "Ain't Gonna Study War No More."

Emmett Akeley, 9, of Seattle stepped into the procession with his mother, Katy Bourne, who carried his brother Enzo, 5. Emmett said he was in the crowd "to march for peace," adding that King "did a lot for peace."