Show J 1 k i. Martin Luther Kings King's dream still lives on fi IL tt J J II v T l. l S Carl and Essie Mae Washington left of friends by Staci Washington Horizon Associate Editor A young black couple and their four children head north from Flagstaff Arizona toward Seattle Washington in ins s search arch of greater prosperity Approaching Lehi Utah they discover a flat tire which takes some time everything is being rationed and backtrack to Salt Lake City to stay the night before travelling on That was six forty-six years ago Today Carl and Essie Mae Wa Washington tl ar are ti u well well- t respected and distinguished senior members of the Salt Lake Community Within the memory of these people is a fairly recent history of the Civil Rights Movement led by bythe bythe bythe the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr and the black experience experience experience ex ex- ex- ex at that time in Utah Mrs Washington recalls that when she and her husband first settled in Salt Lake City it was said that there were only 1500 blacks statewide and of those she says she could 1 A r i J i- i count all the black families in Salt Lake on one hand The say they liked Salt Lake City because the people were nice and the schools were good Their children were never segregated But as the second world war ended Mrs Washington said more and more black servicemen servicemen servicemen ser ser- ser ser- and their families began to settle in the Salt Lake area She feels that this contributed contributed contributed con con- to the rise in tension among residents as rumors began to circulate that foretold the possibility of segregation Mrs Washington remembers remembers remembers bers You would go to some restaurants and they wouldn't want to serve you And when they wouldn't serve us wed we'd just walk out Then in the late fifties an awareness surfaced in Salt Lake City of the Civil Rights Movement for Ra Racial al Equality and of its leader Martin Luther King Jr The began to hear of activist groups of both whites whitesand whitesand whitesand and blacks forming in the community Mrs Washington says things weren't that bad this of time in during period t Salt Lake until an in incident dent occurred occurred occurred oc oc- oc- oc at a local downtown movie theater She and her children went to see a movie at a theater they had been to just a few days before but this time they were asked to sit separate from the other white patrons in the upstairs Mrs Washington contacted the National Association for forthe forthe forthe the Advancement of Colored People NAACP and asked for their help While they negotiated with the theater owners the and their children picketed for four hours each of the three days it took to resolve the issue The family was then al al- al lowed to sit wherever they would choose X It if When Martin Luther King Jr r. r came to speak at th the University University University sity of Utah the took their children to listen and learn They hoped his f. f words would be a message of of inspiration and hope for a better day to come Today Mrs Washington believes that hope has come true for her children She says she is very proud of their suc suc- cess She feels that Dr King not only gave of his life but of his death We thought he was great When he got killed we all cried R g 44 4 j t. t I t- t 4 S' S I t 11 1 j jf f Christmas with the Washington Family j ij fU f l U t ro f- f o. o 1 t |