BROOKINGS Pioneer Park in Brookings is now officially home to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, the new name of the parks drive that honors the late civil rights leader.
The Tuesday afternoon ceremony drew dozens of guests to the park for the occasion, which also made South Dakota the 42nd state to have a street honoring King. The years-long effort to rename the drive was spearheaded by Brookings resident and South Dakota State University student Thomas Reynolds.
It was a great turnout. Im really happy for all the support that the community had for me not just Brookings, but the SDSU community as well, he said. I had a lot of student engagement with this. With people from other countries from Uganda, Nigeria coming to tell me how much they wanted this to happen and now that its here, I know theyre feeling accomplished as well.
Reynolds told the Brookings Register that the process started in April 2022 with a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. It chronicles the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, which took place from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s, and pushed for equal rights and justice for Black people.
His time there left an impression. Seeing all the chaos that everyone was experiencing back then, he said. All the violence that was against people speaking out and trying to have equal voting rights, equal speech right.
It spurred Reynolds to take action as well.
I was interested to know how many places in America have streets and buildings named after him, Martin Luther King Jr., and found out South Dakota didnt have one and I thought that needed to change, he said. So I wrote Mayor (Oepke) Niemeyer a message and asked him, How do we get this done? He directed me to the proper channels, and with his support and the support of the community and the support of SDSU it was able to happen.
Pioneer Park wasnt a random selection, either, for the renamed drive.
We are a nation of pioneers. We have created many great things. We have done many, many great things. We have put forward new ideas, Reynolds said at the Dec. 10 Brookings City Council meeting. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was if not the most important one of the greatest pioneers in not only in civil rights, but also human rights in not just the country, but the world.
I think this is one of perfect ways to honor him and his memory and everything he stood for, Reynolds added. We can see his dream living around us in such a diverse community that is so welcoming to everybody.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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