Monday, January 16, 2006

Martin Luther King, Jr Day Parade


I've heard that Tulsa, Oklahoma has one of the biggest MLK Day parades in the country. Does anyone know? This one was pretty long. I went planning to take photos of all the groups. Unfortunately, my camera quit working mid-shot soon after the start of the event. I tried two more sets of batteries, but nothing worked. This is not good! The camera is a Cannon A-80. Has anyone else had this problem? I've really enjoyed the camera up to the moment it died today. I hope it's not an irreversible problem.

I love doing photography. I'd be happy to be the event photographer for parades and parties and weddings. I've done it in an unofficial capacity, but never as my profession. I especially enjoy faces, expressions and interaction between people.

I wonder what MLK Day means to most people? I know the people along the parade route were mostly African American. At any point along the route, there were probably fewer than five fair-skinned faces mixed in with every hundred darker-skinned faces. The parade had more of a mix, as a number of corporations and employees participated as did churches, school groups and diversity groups.

Before the parade, I was driving around through the surrounding neighborhoods trying to find the free community breakfast. I never did find it. But, it was neat seeing people walking to the parade route. There were lots of families and groups of friends. It would be neat if more people went to event parades that celebrate equality, diversity, inclusion, and acceptance.

The mood was happy except for one young woman who started yelling at me for speaking to her child. (A very small child was sitting alone in the grass crying. I looked around and saw no adult within 15 feet, and none were looking his way. I bent down to ask where his parents were. The 'adult' who came over to me had 'a attitude'. She said, "He may not look like me, but he's with me!" Okay. Okay! She was definitely not in the spirit of the occasion. I just walked away.) I also spoke with a high school senior and her mom. The girl is going away to college in the fall.She hopes to go to Howard University to study premed. Her mom is hoping she'll choose a school a little closer to home.

I never did see the end of the parade. After two hours, I left and came home. I saw one person I know (marching). I guess the other groups I knew were wayyyyy back at the end of the parade. I think I'll choose my viewing spot at the start of the parade route next time instead of at the very end.

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