Day of dreams

IU students and Bloomington residents gathered Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. two-part remembrance event, which included an open mic session followed by a march. Held in the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, the march route led to the Monroe County Courthouse, with stops at Dunn Meadow and Peoples Park. \nSpoken word artist and sophomore Steve Gaskin passionately delivered an excerpt from his writings on black empowerment and racial segregation at "What Would Martin Do? Part 1," which was held prior to the march in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center's Grand Hall.\n"I hope today will influence (young people) to open up their third eye, to do the right thing and to get more involved," he said. "I just hope to touch a part of them that's been closed for a long time."\nGaskin said the common portrayal of white heroes and leaders in the media influenced him later in life.\n"I never saw a black president, so I never wanted to be president," Gaskin said. \nAfter a standing ovation from the crowd, Gaskin led the march to the courthouse. Approximately 30 people chanted "1-2-3-4, we don't want another war; 5-6-7-8, stop the killing, stop the hate" and carried signs with slogans such as "Racism is Real." \nWhile some came to voice their beliefs through poetry or to read King's writings, others, like freshman Aliyah Atkins came out of interest.\n"I just wanted to come and hear the different views on diversity," she said. \nTim Bagwell, a Vietnam veteran and member of the Veterans for Peace, recalled the events of his military service to promote peace. \n"I came home a changed person. I had enlisted with the idealism that I was doing my duty as an American. I came home with that illusion just shattered because of the actions I saw and what I participated in," Bagwell said. "I was later discharged as a conscientious objector." \nBagwell gained cheers from the crowd as he said that returning his medals to the president was the greatest honor of his life. \nIris Carr of the Bloomington Peace Action Coalition also spoke out on the Iraq War with the inspiration of King's power of non-violence idea in mind. \n"Violence and war are still accepted as necessary evils," Carr said. \nThe BPAC plans events like peaceful protests in front of the Indiana National Guard Recruiting office located on Kirkwood Avenue and hands out brochures on alternate ways students can fund their education rather than enlisting in the military. For more information, log onto www.bpac.info. \nGabe Rivera of Grass Roots Alliance for Constitutional Empowerment voiced his views on the roots of racism, the connection between the violence against and imprisonment of blacks to drug abuse and drug trafficking within wars. \n"If you want to end militarization, end the war on drugs," Rivera said.\nDavid Garshaw, pastor of Bloomington's Mt. Gilead Christian Church, said King would be outraged to see the division of church and state taking attention away from pursuing peace and justice. \n"I hope I'm looking at some younger faces today that will continue peace and justice in the way Martin Luther King would have," Garshaw said. "My hope is that as bad as things get, young people don't resort to violence." \nOthers spoke on state and federal policy, and encouraged people to write to their congressmen for change. \nGretchen Clearwater, Democratic candidate for the 9th Congressional District, said she believes King would have spoken out for minorities like gays, Muslims, and environmental lawyers, and against "the gap between the rich and the poor."\n"King would have spoken against power, especially executive power," Clearwater said.