May 23: Glendale Peace Walk

[Brian]

The YWCA Coalition for an Anti-Racist Glendale and the Glendale City Church are organizing the first annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Walk on Sunday, May 23.  The walk will start at 2 p.m. at the YWCA on Lexington Drive, head south on Glendale Avenue, west on Broadway past the civic center then north to the church for an outdoor celebration to conclude at 4 p.m. Here's the link to the event's webpage:

glendalepeacewalk.wordpress.com/

[Brian]

I haven't been to a march that started on time in all of my decades -- that is, until Sunday's first annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Walk.  Starting with the tables laden with boxes of Porto's baked goods, small water bottles, hand sanitizer and masks at the YWCA, it was the best run march I've ever attended.  Hundreds of people came -- with teenagers the predominant age group -- many wearing t-shirts identifying their groups and churches.  The average age was at least 40 years younger than Montrose Peace Vigil regulars, now that all of us are in our 60's and 70's.

Everybody wore masks.  We marched on the sidewalk past the big stores on Glendale Avenue, answering people in the parking lots who wondered what we were doing on one side and waving at honking cars on the other.  Few marchers brought signs, but I had my "Know Justice Know Peace" sign.  Glendale police officers held up traffic at every crosswalk on the route.  The city has come a long way from the time when I was a kid 50 years ago, when the police department still enforced a curfew for Blacks and Chicanos and where the American Nazi Party and the John Birch Society had headquarters.

Thanks to the police, we arrived in record time.  From my vantage point near the rear, the march extended beyond two blocks, as far as I could see.  We found more tables with water bottles when we got to Glendale City Church.  The block was closed to cars so people stood in the street and on the sidewalks or sat on the steep steps in front of the church to hear singers and speakers on a public address system, including Assembly member Laura Friedman.

This first annual march had been postponed from the MLK holiday in January because of the pandemic. May 23 was chosen because it's the closest Sunday to mark the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.  So we only have to wait eight months to enjoy the next march!

[Brian]

Here are some photos I took at the first annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Walk last Sunday:

Boxes of baked goods from Porto's greeted the marchers at YWCA Glendale.

Cheerleaders bolstered the march along Glendale Avenue.

Portion of the march rounding the corner of Broadway and Jackson Street.

Glendale City Church hosted the gathering with speakers and singers afterwards.

From left: Jim, me, Nancy and Roberta. Photo by Anni.

YWCA Glendale and Pasadena's Facebook account has a page with 95 beautiful photos of the day, linked below. Midway down, in the tenth row, are three candid shots of Jim, Nancy and me -- we're easy to spot with our signs.

www.facebook.com/pg/YWCAGP/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10159660709011934&ref=page_internal