As approximately 40 marchers walked from the Bragg Hill Family Life Center in Fredericksburg to the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge on Fall Hill Avenue, they carried a variety of signs delivering a unified message.
Spotsylvania NAACP member Carl Pollard recites a portion of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. (Photos by Taft Coghill Jr.)
“Protect voting rights,” “More housing we can afford,” “Reform juvenile justice,” “Expand Medicare, Medicaid, “Strengthen gun safety” and “Support Public Schools,” were included among the crowd’s demands.
Nicole Cole, who represents the Battlefield District on the Spotsylvania County School Board, was the first to speak during the Spotsylvania NAACP’s “Conversation on the Bridge” in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Cole, who is also running for the 66th District state delegate seat, urged those in attendance to show up and support candidates “who are going to fight for the issues that we believe in,” such as those mentioned on the signs.
“We can do that and protect ourselves in Virginia if we do the right thing,” Cole said.
She then read a quote from King that stated, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle.”
“We know that the outcome this past November wasn’t what we wanted,” Cole said of the election of President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated Monday. “But we have to keep the continuous struggle going so that we can have what we need for our communities … But that means we have to show up.”
Spotsylvania School Board Vice Chair Belen Rodas spoke as well. Rodas said she was inspired to get involved in politics when she heard the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis discuss leading marches to the polls in the south.
“I just started crying, but the only thing I could think was, ‘I bet he’s tired, too,’” Rodas said. “So, we may be tired, but we keep marching because we still have work to do.”
After listening to Lewis, Rodas was inspired to knock on doors in support of former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is running for Virginia governor as a Democrat in this year’s election.
Spanberger, who also spoke at the Fredericksburg NAACP’s prayer breakfast in honor of King earlier that morning, stood in the bed of a pickup truck and talked briefly about her vision for the future.
“Every day in this country, we are on a path toward betterment, we are on a path towards progress and our kids, they deserve us to keep working,” Spanberger said. “They deserve us to keep believing. I’m grateful to be with you all today, because I promise you, I believe in this country, I believe in our kids, and I believe in all the promises that we want to see delivered for them.”
After Spanberger’s talk, a veteran discussed the need for men to show up and be accountable in their communities. Spotsylvania NAACP President Moe Petway then reminded the group that King often kneeled at some point during his marches for civil rights.
Marchers who participated in a conversation on the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge Monday knelt and prayed at the conclusion of the event. (Photo by Taft Coghill Jr.)
As the marchers took a knee, Mark Houghton prayed.
“Help us to seek justice, dispense mercy, seek a Commonwealth here, a local area, a nation where there is equality for all, there is justice for all, where none are hungry, where all are educated, where all are healthy,” Houghton said. “Help us, God, to be the people that work towards that end.”
