UPDATE (4-12-19, 7:30 a.m.): Due to the growing support for the March-a-Thon, the starting point of the march has been moved to Rainier Beach High School on Friday, April 19. According to organizers, registration will begin at 4:00 p.m. and the march will begin at 6:00 p.m.
UPDATE (4-11-19, 11:00 a.m.): The Washington State House Judiciary and Civil Rights committee and the Senate committee on State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections has scheduled a joint hearing on I-1000 at 8:00 a.m. on Thurs., April 18. (Subject to change). Please visit leg.wa.gov for more information.
By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
March 25, 1965 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led his followers as they marched fifty-four miles in 3 days to the capital of Alabama in Montgomery to ensure that Black people secured the right to vote in the deep south.
Fast forward fifty-four years to April 19, 2019 and African Americans in Washington State will march to ensure the right to live and progress in the United States. This time the fight is for I-1000 – an initiative to the Washington State Legislature which will, if passed into law, promote fairness in public education, employment, and contracting for people of color, women, people with disabilities and veterans from all wars.
Currently, I-1000 is under consideration by the state Legislature. If the Legislature fails to act on the initiative it will be placed on the November general election ballot for consideration by the voters of the state.
The 4-day, 54-mile I-1000 March-a-Thon — sponsored by One Washington Equality Campaign and supported by the Michael Bennett Foundation, Military Veterans, Puyallup Tribes of Indians and host of individual sponsors —will begin in at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle on Fri., Apr. 19 and conclude in Olympia on Mon., April 22 in order to bring awareness of the initiative and its importance to the people, but more importantly to the lawmakers of Washington State.
According to former State Rep. Jesse Wineberry, in addition to raising awareness, organizers hope that the march will urge lawmakers to vote on the initiative and help raise money if the legislature fails to act on the initiative and it goes to the general election ballot in November.
The profile of the march recently got a boost as organizers announced that NFL standout and former Seattle Seahawk Michael Bennett has been designated as the honorary marshall of the I-1000 March-a-Thon to Olympia. Bennett will also testify in front of lawmakers urging them to take action on the initiative.
An NAACP award winner in 2017 for his community service, Bennett says that his foundation, the Michael Bennett Foundation, prides itself in impacting the community and its children and teachers through what he calls his “Social Playbook” implementing after school programs and encouraging youth and adults to better understand other cultures and building a foundation that differences are ok.
“This march represents everything I grew up and was raised on in regards to the diversity of people in this nation and the importance of equal treatment under the law,” says Bennett about his participation in the march and support of I-1000.
“It is important to me to collaborate with all people and exercise what it is to be a citizen of this state as well as a citizen of this country. And, it is important that we as a people come together and fight for and impact our communities for the future of our children and generations to come just as our ancestors before us. So, this march and the issue surrounding it is a big deal for me,” Bennett continued.
With the recent attacks on affirmative action and affirmative action policy across the country, organizers say that nation is paying close attention to Washington State and I-1000, which had a record 396,000 signatures turned in to the Washington Secretary of State’s office.
According to Ballotpedia, a non-partisan online political forum, “Initiative 1000 would allow affirmative action without the use of quotas in the state of Washington. This means that characteristics such as race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status could be used as factors when considering a person for education or employment opportunities. I-1000 would, however, ban preferential treatment, meaning those characteristics could not be the sole or deciding factor when considering a person for education or employment opportunities.”
“This is not just a Washington state issue but a national issue that we want to bring to the forefront of the national conscious,” adds Wineberry.
“In the spirit of the March on Montgomery in 1965, a three-day march covering 54 miles Black people marched to achieve voting rights in Alabama and became the impetus to a national civil rights movement,” says Wineberry. “For twenty-six years now African Americans and people of color as well as military veterans, the disabled and women have been fighting to have their voices heard in front of the state legislature to have lawmakers vote on [legislation] guaranteeing equality and fairness in public education, government contracts for minority-owned businesses, employment and fairness for people with disabilities and military veterans from all wars.”
According to Wineberry, “it is vital that the community come together on I-1000 as both sponsors and participants” to bring awareness and action on the part of lawmakers in Olympia. Lawmakers, according Wineberry, “have procrastinated on bringing this initiative to a vote and with the record number of signatures it is obvious that the people have spoken.”
Bennett agrees and says that it is important for people to fight now to help secure a better future.
“Equality is everything,” says Bennett. “Who we are as African Americans from being brought here as slaves, to enduring Jim Crow, the Civil Rights era and the turmoil that came from it and we still find ourselves just as our ancestors fighting and battling for equality.”
“Who are we not to fight?” continued Bennett. “Whatever the battles that are going on it is important for the sisters and brothers to continue to fight and how we respond, how we articulate our message in a non-violent manner is important on an organic level.”
For more information on the I-1000 March-a-Thon or to sign up to participate, call (206) 701-4188 or visit at www.yeson1000.com
