By Eliz Dowdy, Staff Writer

The Alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta held the 13th annual MLK Peace March in Victorville.  The day was blustery and cold, but the high desert communities came out to participate, be encouraged, and view the unveiling of the newest civil rights plaque added to the display on a grassy knoll near Victorville City Hall.  Speakers reminded the attendees of the minor discomfort endured today is nothing compared to the agonies endured by Dr. King and others who used peaceful protest to let the nation know the status quo had to change.

The group started the marches in 2006, and there were essay writing contests in the schools, but nothing to commemorate and remember the historic marches that galvanized a stunned nation as they watched the vitriolic, violent confrontations on the 6pm news.  The high desert march is only a couple of blocks, but it is symbolic of those famous marches for civil rights, and equality.

The commemorative plaques grew out of requests for a freeway overpass to be named after Dr. King, because there was nothing in the high desert that depicted the civil rights movement.  The City of Victorville stepped up with a proposal to create a civil rights memorial, where kids in Victor Elementary school would write essays about different civil rights icons, the winning essay would then be the basis for the civil rights plaque placed on the memorial site on a yearly basis.  There are currently five plaques on the site.  Dr. Martin Luther King; Asa Phillip Randolph, Frederick Douglass, Cesar Chavez, and now Harriet Tubman.

The winning essay was written by sixth grade student Penelope Trylch, a student at Galileo School of Gifted and Talented Education.  The essay contest of open to fifth and sixth grade students in the district

More organizations are joining the Sorority in co-sponsoring the event.  This year’s sponsors included the DVL Project, High Desert Lodge #107; and Victor Valley Women’s Club.

The sorority is active throughout the high desert communities as participants in various public service programs.