Messages of hope, calls for action heard at Ogden’s annual MLK March
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- Demonstrators participate in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community March in Ogden on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
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- Demonstrators participate in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community March in Ogden on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
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- Demonstrators participate in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community March in Ogden on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
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- Demonstrators participate in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community March in Ogden on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
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- Demonstrators participate in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community March in Ogden on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
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- Signs are made during the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Breakfast & March in Ogden on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
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- The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Breakfast at Ogden’s Union Station on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
OGDEN — The life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. were celebrated nationwide on Monday, alongside the continuing effort to build a more just and equitable world.
In recognition of the federal holiday bearing King’s name, the Ogden Branch NAACP teamed up with Project Success Coalition, Ogden City’s Marshall N. White Community Center and Weber State University to hold its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast & March.
On a day that was shared with the inauguration of President Donald Trump — and following a year in which diversity, equity and inclusion efforts around the state stalled following the activation of House Bill 261, or the “Equal Opportunity Initiatives” — Betty Sawyer of the Ogden NAACP offered a message of hope, telling the assembled crowd at Union Station that “Mission: Possible” was the theme of the moment.
The event began at the historic rail hub with a free meal and speeches from local activists, public officials and special guests, including Embry Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church pastor Vada Southern, who served as keynote speaker. Southern joined speakers like Sawyer, Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski and others in calling on attendees to take ownership of their role in enacting change — to be the change they want to see in the world around them.
“We have to stay hopeful,” Sawyer implored during her opening remarks. “There are a lot of things, there are a lot of messages out there, there’s a lot of rhetoric about truth floating around. But we have to stand true to truth and speak truth to power. As we come together today, you will be asked, you will be challenged to stand up, to sign up, to act up, to do all of the things that are necessary to make sure that we don’t go backwards into a dark place that none of us want to be in.”
Attending the annual event for the second time was Maisie Scriven of Ogden, this time as a volunteer with Project Success Coalition. Scriven told the Standard-Examiner that she has focused her own, personal efforts on the youth, forming a study group for children who are in danger of being left behind or are afraid to seek the help they need.
“A lot of the changes that I feel need to be worked on have to do with kids,” Scriven said. “That’s why I’m trying to tell them, ‘Let’s get up there. You guys have to be a voice, too. Your voice matters. Make it loud.’ They’re kind of new to it. I’m kind of new to it. Hopefully, we get them speaking and doing what they can do — using their gifts.”
Scriven believes that the timing of the inauguration could distract from events like the Ogden march and the messaging behind it. However, she’s more concerned with bringing people, including her own family, together, as opposed to feeding into divisiveness.
“My focus is bringing all the different types of people together,” she said. “I’m multicultural. I have a grandson; he’s a little white boy with red hair, and I don’t want him to ever feel uncomfortable around us. And the same with my other grandkids. They’re all in one family. I don’t want to split us up, even though I feel like I grew up just kind of split up. Hopefully, we can change that.”
Ogden’s Lori Johns, an active NAACP member, is similarly focused on unity and affecting change.
“Today is a day for everybody to put our differences aside. And, honestly, I think we all need to know who our representatives are — state government level — so that we can make a change,” Johns said. “Not enough people vote, but enough people complain. If we got all the people that complain to vote, you can make a difference.
“Regardless of what’s happening today, it’s about what’s happening with you, personally, and how you can make a difference. Because you’re not going to be able to change that, right? You’re not going to be able to change those major things happening in the world unless we all group together and we voice our opinion.”
During the breakfast, the community efforts of Sarah McClellan were recognized by the Ogden Community Engagement and Opportunity Commission. McClellan has served for decades as the project director of the Northern Utah Coalition and also served on boards for the Ogden NAACP, Project Success Coalition, Marshall White Center, YCC Family Crisis Center and the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, among others.
Grounds for Coffee owners Dan and Suzy Dailey also received an award for their community presence and ongoing support of events like the MLK march and the organizations behind them.
After the meal and program at Union Station, attendees gathered in the station’s parking lot and proceeded down Wall Avenue to 24th Street — a part of which was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Street in 1995 — for the march. Braving the cold of winter, the crowd marched from there toward Keisel Avenue to the east, at which point the procession moved southward toward the Ogden Amphitheater.
As they marched, demonstrators held signs, sang songs and recited calls for change. Upon their arrival at the amphitheater, they were treated to music, hot chocolate and further calls to action, including from Weber State University students.
Marshall White Center supervisor Mason Widdison also spoke about the community center’s forthcoming return. Ogden City’s recreation director, Edd Bridge, confirmed earlier that the new building would be open the first weekend in May.
