Ball State freshman Stephanie Bingham bundled up her coat, hat and scarf and held a candle Monday evening as she prepared to march through the city streets in remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr.
Bingham was one of nearly 20 Ball State students and local residents who gathered for Muncie's annual candlelight march from City Hall to Christ Temple Church seven blocks away, where hundreds more celebrated the civil rights leader's life in a city-wide service.
"I think it's a really neat thing to do, to recreate the walk and everything," Bingham said. The candlelight march represented the several marches King led to tear down the wall of segregation in America in the 1960s.
Despite the 11-degree weather, freshman Katrin Hoffman said she was glad so many Ball State students chose to participate.
"It's important that Ball State students aren't staying together [but] are stepping outside their Ball State bubble and are coming together for a problem that's still existing," Hoffman said. "We can keep thinking of ways to break down the barrier."
Derick Virgil, director of Ball State's Multicultural Center, said participants could have chosen to cancel the walk due to the cold weather. However, everyone who showed up wanted to continue the march, including President Jo Ann Gora.
"I think seven blocks in the cold is nothing compared to what other people have been through," said Gora, who led the 10-minute march with Pastor Bryant Crumes of Word of Life Christian Church.
Virgil said he would have liked to see more people participate in this year's march. Nearly 30 people participated last year, he said.
"It's always been this cold, and we actually advertised more this year," Virgil said. "It's unfortunate not everyone sees the significance, but for those who did come out it's still important. If one of these people make the kind of difference he made, it would be worth it."
At Christ Temple Church, 10 area pastors and a city-wide choir of 35, led by Pastor Kevin Woodgett of the Church of the Living God, continued the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration with prayers and songs.
Mayor Dan Canan also issued a proclamation encouraging all Muncie residents to continue commemorating the life of King. Republican Congressman Mike Pence said the civil rights leader's 39 years of life are a symbol of justice, kindness and humility.
"His courage, his compassion and his God made the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. great indeed and a figure that has inspired and will continue to inspire people of good will for generations to come," Pence said.
In his message titled "Hold on to the Dream," keynote speaker Pastor Phelmon Saunders of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Saginaw, Mich., further highlighted the need for members of the community to advance the civil rights leader's dream.
More than 30 percent of black families and 46 percent of black children today are poor, Saunders said. He said black individuals were also more likely to become victims of a crime, and discrimination and social injustice are still rampant in today's society.
"When God gives you a dream, you've got to hold on to it," Saunders said. "You cannot continue to do things as they were."
That's the main reason city officials worked for more than a year to change Broadway Avenue's name to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Boulevard despite opposition from so many, pastor Thomas Perchlik of Muncie said.
"Let us be sorry for pain, sorry for the difficulty," Perchlik said in his prayer of reconciliation. "Help us to forgive others that the dream will move forward."
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