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Local African-American pioneer remembers King as great teacher

by James Munoz / KENS 5

kens5.com

Posted on January 18, 2010 at 8:27 AM

Updated Monday, Jan 18 at 9:08 AM

 

Tens of thousands will show up at the Freedom Bridge to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday.

King marched for the disenfranchised and fought for equality for all people.

Helen Cloud Austin was a graduate student in the 1960s when King's message inspired her.

"He talked about love and taking advantage of every opportunity and door that opened," Austin said.

Austin was the first African-American hired at the San Antonio State Hospital and was named the first National Social Worker of the Year.

The nearly three-mile march to Pittman Sullivan Park is the only reenactment in Texas. And the Alamo City was ahead of the state when it launched its first march in 1987. Texas officially recognized the King holiday in the early 1990s.

Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros started planning the city's first march in 1986.

A city garbage truck always leads the march. The truck represents the last march King led on behalf of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968.

Civil rights icon Rosa Parks was the march's first guest in 1987.

The theme this year is "Education: Marching in the Reality of the Dream."

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