On King's day, a taste for change

For six years Francisca Vega-Taylor has worked the church kitchen helping to prepare scrambled eggs and flour tortillas for the annual Martin Luther King Day breakfast on St. Paul's West Side. For six years, the gathering always had more than enough food to go around. Until Monday. Vega-Taylor and her colleagues ran out of food Monday, overwhelmed by the turnout on a day when the nation marked both the legacy of the civil rights leader and the impending inauguration of its first black president.

"I think a lot of people like myself would have liked to have been in Washington, D.C., today," said Vega-Taylor at the Faith United Methodist Church in West St. Paul. "But I think a lot of people came here because they wanted to be someplace to celebrate."

In dining halls, sanctuaries and auditoriums across the Twin Cities, Minnesotans young and old gathered to sing, dance, march and honor King's memory and achievements. With the inauguration of Barack Obama just hours away, this year's festivities held special significance.

"The dream has come true," said Denise Villalva of St. Paul, who attended breakfast at Faith United with her husband, Michael, and children Justin, 13, and Samantha, 10. "We have change. It's a big change. And it's a good step forward."

A special excitement

Some pastors began celebrating King's work and Obama's triumph at church services Sunday.

At the Christ Temple Apostolic Church in Roseville, more than 125 worshippers sang, danced and rejoiced during a late-afternoon service organized by the St. Paul Black Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance to remember King's vision and "embrace" the inauguration of Obama, said the Rev. Gloria Roach-Thomas.

Howell, the first black student at Minneapolis' Northeast Middle School when he enrolled in 1964, asked worshippers to shake hands and note the link between the past and the future, King and Obama.

"It's surreal," he said. "Dr. King's 'I Have a Dream' speech reaches fruition this week."

Monday, diners started showing up at Faith United well before dawn. By the time breakfast was served at 7 a.m., more than 150 people had taken their seats for the chorizo eggs, refried beans and flour tortillas. It was the largest turnout ever, said a program organizer.

An hour into the program, Vega-Taylor watched on TV as former Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Powell hailed Obama's election as a transcendent moment in race relations. "It still hits me today like an electrical shock," Powell told the sold-out crowd of 2,000. "Yes, Martin, by God we did it."

Powell called on the nation not to forget the long, violent history that came before Obama's election, and to unite under his presidency.

LaToshia Jackson of Brooklyn Center said the rousing celebration was the most spirited breakfast in the five years she's attended. King's message will only resonate stronger with Obama's presidency, she said.

"People are really realizing that, 'Oh my God, tomorrow, our first African-American president,' " Jackson said.

'Gives me chills'

Later Monday, hundreds of people gathered at Central High School in St. Paul for an hour-long rally and a half-mile march down Marshall Avenue.

"Martin Luther King fought his entire life for this event, this change. And that's why I'm so excited," said Cynthia Morrison, 49, of St. Paul. "It's not just for black people, but it's for everybody. It gives me chills saying that."

"This was something Martin Luther King was trying to achieve," she said of Obama's election while observing King day at Minneapolis' Midtown Global Market. "People will look back on these two days as unlike anything we'll ever have."

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