Ameya Marie Okamoto leads the crowd in a chant
Ameya Marie Okamoto leads the crowd in a chant Kelly Kenoyer

Yesterday’s youth march to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination was raw with emotion. The North Portland rally, which drew some 75 participants, featured an hour of emotional testimony from kids and community members about how racism has affected their daily lives, followed by a march to the MLK mural at Irvington Covenant Church.

One young girl spoke she had been called the n-word in her middle school classroom. When she notified the principal, she said, she was ignored.

Don’t Shoot Portland’s Teressa Raiford helped organize the march and gave an impassioned and tearful speech about MLK’s goals late in life. She said she started to realize a few years ago that the work she does is carrying his message forward.

Student organizer Ameya Marie Okamoto led most of the chants, including “Black Lives Matter” and “say his name—Stephan Clark” and “say his name—Quanice Hayes.” She said she creates art to help address pain in minority communities. She worked with Quanice Hayes’s family to produce this portrait of him.

Many expressed pain that the Black community still faces the same problems today that it did 40 years ago.

The rally was a heartbreaking release of emotion and grief as community members recognized not how far the country has come, but how far the country still has to go.