Ernesto Portillo column from the AZ Daily Star

This column by Ernesto Portillo appeared in yesterday's Arizona Daily Star, and I just wanted to make sure that everyone saw it.

Lots of locals just love this guy, myself included.

Portillo:

I was a schoolboy when King led the brave charge for civil rights.

I vividly remember the night of April 4, 1968, when an assassin killed King on a motel balcony. I was with my parents and siblings in a car parked at the Dairy Queen on North Fourth Avenue, across the street from its current location.

The radio announcer said King had been killed earlier in the evening. I remember my father sadly saying that trouble would follow.

Trouble did follow, along with sorrow and bitterness. But accomplishments followed King's death, too.

In the intervening years, America, with difficulty and reluctance, has fulfilled his legacy of nonviolent change by collaborating to become a more equitable society.
"We'll walk hand in hand
"We'll walk hand in hand
"We'll walk hand in hand someday."

When the choir sang the song, I reflected on King and all those who struggled alongside him -- and those who died. We owe them much for their sacrifice.

But the words also painfully reminded me that civil rights remain a dream for many people. Here in Arizona, as across the country, homosexuals are denied their full rights, and the little legal progress they have made is being attacked.
Anti-homosexual forces want to add to this year's state ballot a constitutional ban of same-sex marriage and benefits.

The full column is at:
http://www.azstarnet.com/...