PORT TOWNSEND — A 13.5-mile Peace Walk is meant to honor Martin Luther King Jr. on the actual date of his birth, according to an organizer.
“This will not be a mass event,” said Douglas Milholland, who expects at least a dozen people to participate in the first Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk, scheduled today.
“In the words of Martin Luther King, we need to come together nonviolently to fight the militarism, racism and materialism that exists today,” Milholland said.
King’s legacy as a civil rights leader is celebrated in a national holiday on the third Monday of January. His actual birthdate is Jan. 15, 1929.
Gather near Indian Island
Participants are asked to gather across from the entrance to Naval Magazine Indian Island, 100 Indian Island Road in Port Hadlock, at 8:30 a.m.
They should park in the county lot on the water side of the road, Milholland said, and shuttles will be available to take them back to their cars at the event’s conclusion.
The walk to Port Townsend will begin at 9 a.m. and end at Pope Marine Park. A rally is planned at the park at about 3:30 p.m.
Participants will be invited to share their thoughts and feelings as to what King meant to them, Milholland said.
After the walk, participants and supporters are welcome to a potluck dinner at 6 p.m. at the Port Townsend Friends Meeting House, 1841 Sheridan St.
Words still resonate
King was assassinated in 1968, but his words resonate today, Milholland said.
“We are in 2016, and the war games are continuing,” he said.
“Port Townsend is not outside of the military industrial phenomenon, and there are thousands of people who would prefer that the Olympic Peninsula doesn’t become even more militarized.”
This Peace Walk is part of a longer peace walk that started at the Nipponzan Myohoji Dojo (Buddhist temple) on Bainbridge Island on Wednesday.
After Port Townsend, it will continue to Edmonds and Seattle in time to become part of the MLK Day march Monday.
The walk will be led by Senji Kanaeda and Brother Gilberto Perez of the Nipponzan Myohoji Dojo.
For more information on the Port Townsend walk and other activities, contact Clint Weimeister at 360-379-5376, 360-643-0340 or clintw327@gmail.com.
For information on the other parts of the walk, contact Senji Kanaeda at 206-780-6739, 206-724-7632 or senji@nipponzan.net; or contact Gilberto Perez at 206-419-7262 or gzperez@juno.com.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
