Donnell and Ronnie, both 14. Fourteen-year-old Ronnie brought his friend Donnell with him to walk alongside roughly 100 other people Thursday in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Love March on Lawrence Street. Next year, he might be bringing more friends, as march organizers aim to gather 1 0,000 attendees in honor of an important anniversary. “It’s special for sure,” said Ronnie, who said his mom has brought him out to the march every year for the last four years. They’re members of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, which has been hosting the Love March on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, Jan. 15, for 56 years. The march began at the church on Lawrence Street and then moved to Whitney Avenue, Edwards Street, State Street, and finished back at the church. Ronnie walked alongside Donnell. Both are students at High School in the Community. They left school early to be there on Thursday. It was Donnell’s first time attending the march, and asked whether he would be back in 2027, he said, “Definitely.” Before the march began, Pastor Kennedy Hampton, Sr., son of march founder George Hampton, Sr., addressed his congregation and the officials filling the church’s pews. Next year, the march will be honoring the 110th anniversary of the 1917 NAACP Silent Protest Parade in New York City. The 1917 march had around 10,000 attendees. Hampton wants next year’s Love March to reach those same numbers. “In order to get to 10,000, we need to get our school system involved,” Hampton said. He called Mayor Justin Elicker to the pulpit and asked him to commit to allowing students to be transported from their schools to the march next year. “I want to have him commit today that he’ll help us reach 10,000 next year.” “I will talk to [Supt. Madeline] Negrón and see what I can do,” Elicker said, smiling. While walking toward Whitney, Ronnie and Donnell agreed that it would “definitely” be good for all students to have the option to be transported to and attend the march. “It’s good to do it on his day,” said Ronnie about the march being on King’s actual birthday. Ronnie said he always looks forward to the march and the ability to “respect MLK’s legacy,” and that many of his friends have come in the past. Ten-year-old Karter marched alongside Hampton, her grandfather, toward the beginning of the line, carrying a big sign that read “HEAL THE VILLAGE.” She said that she’s been coming to the march “my whole life.” A student at Ross Woodward School, Karter stayed home Thursday to celebrate the Love March and King’s birthday. She agreed that it would be good for other students to be able to attend. Asked why the march was important, Karter said, “We walk for our rights!” Orrieon Cowes III carried the American flag at the forefront of the march, leading the crowd behind him. At 66 years old, he said he has only missed five out of the 56 years the Love March has been put on. For the march, he has carried the flag for half a dozen years, organized a real mule and a cart, and even brought a bus to represent Rosa Parks. “Wherever they need me, I’m there.” Cowes was born and raised in New Haven and has been a member of all his life. Now he lives in Bridgeport, but he still makes it out for services and the march. He pointed to a house on Lawrence, soon after turning onto the street from State. It was the house he had lived in when he first started attending Shiloh. Now, on Thursday, two of its tenants stood on the porch, waving at the marchers. For Cowes, the march honors “peace, tranquility, rights for everyone.” Over the years, he has seen more kids in attendance, as well as more racial and ethnic diversity of attendees. “It was just us in the beginning,” he said. Looking to the future, Cowes said, “We gotta change the seats in the House [of Representatives].” Yanketia Wise is the granddaughter of Love March founder George Hampton, Sr. On Thursday, her voice rang clear as she led the march’s chant: “We are marching/ On Dr. King’s birthday/ We are marching/ Each and every day/ I made up my mind/ That I won’t turn around.” “I feel really excited, I feel overjoyed, I feel empowered,” Wise said after the march. She said that she has also been attending the march her whole life. “I’m proud to pass the torch to my kids. This is a legacy.” Asked how she came to be the one whose voice carried the march, she said that her mother had always been the one whose voice took that role before. “We’re Darlene’s kids,” she said, smiling. “I had to!” Orrieon Cowes III bears the flag and leads the way. Yanketia Wise’s voice carries the crowd. The post Students Boost 56th Annual Love March appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less