BLACKS PREPARE FOR SIKESTON'S KING OBSERVANCE

SIKESTON -- For the first time since it began in 1989, Sikeston's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade will take an estimated 50 cars outside of Sikeston's west end -- the Sunset Addition. Those cars, adorned with pictures of King, will go through one of the city's most affluent neighborhoods.

A group of teen-agers, all black students, colored posters Sunday for today's parade, slated to begin at 10 a.m.

One of the posters had a huge picture of King, who won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for leading nonviolent civil rights demonstrations. Next to the photo was a quote: "True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice."

Black youth and civic leaders in Sikeston have long complained that the city lacks justice for all, especially in the area of law enforcement.

Clashes between Sunset residents and police received statewide media attention last year.

In October, the Black Ministerial Alliance and city leaders hosted a speaker from Kansas City whose specialty was alleviating violence and racial tension.

Now, parade organizers hope to further that work with Martin Luther King Jr. Day events.

"We are trying to make whites aware as well as blacks," said Louis Wiggins, who oversees a tutoring program at Sikeston Regional Children's Services. "Martin Luther King Jr. didn't just march in one area of town or one area of the country. We want to make people aware that we are proud of him and of our race."

Event planning fell to Wiggins this year after the Sikeston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which typically coordinates King Day activities, failed to step forward. Without a president, the local NAACP branch isn't as active as it once was.

Wiggins, with the help of the Sikeston Concerned Parents for Education group, planned the parade and a 6:30 p.m. program at 201 S. Kingshighway.

Tisha Mallory, 15, said more attention to black history in the school system might help unite the races. Right now, too many people see Martin Luther King Jr. Day as just another day off.

"I tutor a white student who didn't even know who Dr. King was," Mallory said. "He just knew he wasn't going to school Monday. If Martin Luther King Jr. came to Sikeston today, I think he would be really upset."

The idea of marching through predominantly white neighborhoods for the first time didn't bother her.

"Whether they watch us or not, we will have accomplished something," Mallory said.

Michael Harris, Sikeston NAACP chapter's last president, said he hoped the special day would promote racial unity.

He said few blacks are promoted to key positions in business in his hometown, which lacks true social, educational and economic equality.

"Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a time to reflect on what his dream was," Harris said. "We have to realize that one day, like he said, we will not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our hearts."

At the 6:30 p.m. program, several students will read poetry, including some by black author Maya Angelou.

Speeches by a King look-alike and a man depicting Black Muslim leader Malcolm X will follow. The two men were contemporaries with very different views about the liberation of blacks in America.

King advocated a nonviolent approach, Malcolm X's trademark phrase was "by any means necessary."

Mark Wiggins, 27, bears an uncanny resemblance to Malcolm X. But he said his personal philosophies lean more toward King's.

Wiggins recently moved back to Sikeston after three years in the Navy and four as a corrections officer in Lorton, Va.

"People here really need to work on King's philosophies," he said. "The younger children are trying to be gangsters, and drugs are much more prevalent now than when I left."

He added that if even a few youth were influenced by King Day activities, it would be an accomplishment.

Louis Wiggins echoed his nephew's sentiments.

"I know there will never be 100 percent agreement between the races," he said. "But if we can just get to some kind of common ground, it will be a start."