I remember seeing KHOU-11’s story on the MLK Jr. Day parade earlier this month and thinking how the story sure put a happy face on the years-long dispute between two competing groups:
A decade-long feud between two Houston groups ended Monday with a single parade honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
The feud had meant competing parades each MLK Day, but this year it was a different scene downtown.
“I love it,” said Bertha Edison, parade goer. “Dr. King stood for unity. Always stood for unity.”
The crowd was larger and the parade longer, but Bertha Edison was especially pleased the two feuding parade organizers have finally come together.
“If we can’t come together how do we expect others to follow what we’re trying to preach here?” Edison asked.
[snip]
It was a history-making day for the annual MLK Parade. Many said there’s no better gift for the dreamer than unity on his birthday.
“This is it,” said Carolyn Scantleberry, parade goer. “This is the way it should be.”
Yeah, well, so much for unity:
A second promoter has filed a competing permit application for a 10 a.m. Martin Luther King Jr. parade, setting up the first test of the city’s parade ordinance that calls for rival groups to go into arbitration.
