Students from Morse High School and community members gathered at the Bath Train Station to march across the Sagadahoc Bridge in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The march was organized by the MHS School-Community Liaison Council.

In prepared remarks, MHS student and Councilor Trever Santiago thanked everyone who came, especially students who had the day off, and spoke about why King’s example and dream remain relevant in 2017.

“Many people believe Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was realized and his work finished,” said Santiago. “On the contrary, the assumption that discrimination is gone is fantasy. Now I will not, nor will I ever, say that Dr. King failed in his dream. However, it is foolish of us to assume that complete unification is our reality of any means. As a nation, we have made leaps and bounds from segregated water fountains or the right to refuse service as so many restaurants put up years and years ago. There is still much work to be done in today’s world, even though those may be mended.”

Santiago noted that he had seen racial discrimination in his own family. Santiago recalled his father being pulled aside for security checks far more often than reasonable, ostensibly due to his Hispanic ethnicity.

“A lot of people may look at that and say that’s an isolated incident. That’s the outlier. That doesn’t happen anymore,” said Santiago. “But I can assure you that’s not the truth. I see it every day.”

After the march across the bridge, attendees returned to the train station, which was decked with papers on the walls with facts and information about King and the civil rights movement. One large poster, titled “What is your dream?”, asked attendees to add their thoughts and reflections about the day. That poster will be displayed at the Patten Free Library. There, people gathered to watch King’s famous “I have a dream” speech.

“I think it’s just really important to take the time, to do something even if it’s small. If we just take a tiny amount of time to walk across the bridge and to watch his speech it’s worth it,” said fellow student and counselor Dylan Haycock.

The march has taken place annually for the last 13 years. The council, made up of students and community members from around Bath, also runs a food drive for the Bath Area Food Bank and the food pantry at MHS, adopts a family on Christmas and hands out the annual Mainesail Award.

“We’re student-lead, which I believe makes us a very special group of individuals to let kids and young adults of 15, 16, 17, and 18 step into a role as impactful as a leadership organization and really make a step in their community, and in turn, their home,” said Santiago.