Approximately 1000 people participated in the 1997 march to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 20, 1997. That year, MLK Day fell the day after Bill Clinton's inauguration for his second term as US President, and the march began at Garfield High School with speakers condemning Clinton's recently announced welfare cuts. Rather than limiting aid to those most in need, speakers called for focus to be on providing jobs, child care, and health care. After the speeches, the crowd marched south on MLK Way toward the destination, the Rainier Vista housing project. Along the way, they carried signs and chanted slogans criticizing welfare reform and calling for jobs and economic justice.

This image shows children at the front of the MLK Day march. At left is Shaunte Gray-McVey, 11, holding a picture of Nelson Mandela, and second from left is Ernesto Richard, 12.

Caption information source: "1,000 points of pride - marchers in lively King Day parade call for jobs, security," by Jack Hopkins, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 21, 1997, page B1.