A preacher and a president

BY MICHAEL OVERALL World Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
1/20/09 at 2:42 AM

Video: Watch video from the parade, with commentary from participants and spectators

His granddaughter kept wanting Marcus Lehning to button up his coat against the sub-40- degree cold Monday morning, but Lehning didn't want to hide his T-shirt.

The 72-year-old was watching Tulsa's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, but he was wearing Barack Obama's picture.

"I never thought there would be a Martin Luther King holiday, but here it is," Lehning said. "I never thought a black man would be elected president — not in my lifetime — but here it is."

In the parade and along the sidelines, Obama featured almost as prominently as King himself as people used the occasion to begin celebrating Tuesday's inauguration.

The parade took nearly 2 1/2 hours to wind through the historic Greenwood District north of downtown, where several floats featured images of Obama next to King. A few featured only images of Obama.

"No disrespect to Dr. King, but this is Barack's day," said Antoine Brown, who was selling Obama T-shirts out of the back of an SUV along the parade route.

"This is probably the most historic thing I've ever lived through."

Despite the chilly north wind, spectators crowded the sidewalks on both sides of Greenwood Avenue for nearly the entire 1.2-mile route.

The American Airlines float included a bridge reaching from one mountaintop to another, with King's picture on top of the first and Obama's on the other.

The span of the bridge was covered with pictures of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and other well-known black leaders.

Another float included black-and-white photos of King and Obama under the slogan "Yes, we did."

At Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, near the end of the parade route, Myesha Cole held a banner that declared "A dream fulfilled," referring to King's famous "I have a dream" speech in 1963.

"I think if Martin Luther King was alive today he would say, 'My dream has come true,' " Cole said. "My children will grow up in a world where it is taken for granted that anybody can grow up and be president, black or white."

Back near the start of the parade route, however, Lehning urged people to keep the inauguration in perspective.

"Racism is a fact of life, and there's nothing you can do about it," he said, his coat still unbuttoned.

"Some people won't change no matter what."

Martin Luther King Day parade entry winners

Bands

1st place — Booker T. Washington High
School
2nd place — Riverfield Country Day School
3rd place —Will Rogers High School

Floats

Corporate (professionally built)
1st — Bank of Oklahoma
2nd — American Electric Power-Public
Service Company of Oklahoma
3rd — Spirit Aerosystems
Corporate (employee built)
1st — American Airlines
2nd — U.S. Cellular
3rd — Oklahoma Natural Gas
Noncorporate (professionally built)
1st — North Peoria Church of Christ
Noncorporate (nonprofessionally built)
1st — Tulsa Public Schools
2nd — Metropolitan Baptist Church
3rd — One Hope Ministries

Drill Teams

Corporate
1st — American Airlines
2nd — State Farm Insurance
3rd — U.S. Cellular
Noncorporate
1st — Carver Pom & Dance Squad
2nd — Lacy Jammers Drill Team
3rd — Miller’s Drillers

Horses

Single Riders
1st — Joe Manuel
Clubs
1st — Cowboys on the Fence

Leadership Corps, Middle Schools

1st — Thoreau Demonstration Academy

Michael Overall 581-8383
michael.overall@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

Scores of people line the streets for Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World

Ernest Cobb (right), 5, holds up an Obama-Biden yard sign during Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Tulsa. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World

Kaylyn Harper, 7, of Tulsa bundles up against the cold during Monday's parade. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World

Kim Brice (center) of the State Farm dance team performs during Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. State Farm's unit placed second in the Drill Team-corporate division. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World