By becoming the first state south of the Mason-Dixon line to have a State Civil Rights Act, Kentucky played a historic role to end segregation in the United States. Fifty years later, all of Kentucky is celebrating this monumental day. 

Community Projects Incorporated of Russellville along with other organizations will be honoring the 50th Anniversary of the March in Frankfort by participating in a commemorative march on Wednesday, March 5, at the State Capitol.

Community Projects Incorporated is providing bus transportation at no cost for those who sign up.

“We invite Russellville/Logan County residents, parents, students, elected officials, churches, organizations, clubs, ministers, seniors, businesses, all ethnic groups, and community to join us on our bus trip,” says Charles Neblett, the organization’s president. .”Also, notify us if you want to follow us in your car/van or meet us there. By being assigned to this area, our efforts are to make sure that Logan County is well represented in this state wide commemorative celebration.”

The departure schedule is 5 a.m. that morning. The schedule for the day includes 9:30 a.m. (EST) Student Kentucky History session, 10:30 line up for the march to the capitol, 11 march begins, and noon rally at the State Capitol. The bus will return after the rally.

Although sandwiches may be provided, riders are still encouraged to bring sack lunches due to the compact schedule.

Marvinia Neblett of Community Projects Inc. says students can be granted excused absences if they attend, but that it is necessary to fill out the proper forms by Tuesday. Those forms are available at the schools’ offices.

For information and seat reservations, call the Nebletts at 270-847-8270 or email freedom_neblett@yahoo.com

According to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights:

The historic March 5, 1964, Civil Rights March on Frankfort included more than 10,000 people who walked to the capitol to urge a law that would help end segregation by making discrimination illegal in the area of public accommodations such as stores, restaurants, theatres, and hotels. A host of Kentucky civil rights leaders, citizens of all races, and celebrities participated. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, and baseball great Jackie Robinson were among those who traveled to Kentucky to help lead the marchers to the capitol and speak to the crowd from the steps. The folk group Peter, Paul and Mary led songs about freedom.

Gov. Edward (Ned) Breathitt met with Frank Stanley Jr., owner of the Louisville Defender newspaper and a key organizer of the event, other state civil rights leaders, and King and Robinson, to talk about the urgent need for a state civil rights law. The march helped build support for the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 and helped result in the Kentucky Civil Rights Act of 1966.

In order to facilitate event participation and logistics, the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights has assisted with forming a collaborative consisting of professional, educational, human rights and activist groups and individuals. The Allied Organizations for Civil Rights includes partners from all over the state.  Included are the Kentucky Council of Churches, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, the Kentucky Conference of NAACP Branches, the Kentucky Chapter of the National Association of Human Rights Workers, the Kentucky Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Kentucky Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, the Fairness Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, the Kentucky AFL-CIO, the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, local human rights commissions throughout the state, and representatives of Kentucky’s colleges and universities. 

“The Allied Organizations for Civil Rights hopes that men, women and children from all over the state who believe in continuing the justice movement will participate in the commemorative march and rally on March 5, 2014,” said John J. Johnson, executive director of the state human rights commission.

“It is our desire to build upon the legacy that 10,000 Kentuckians left in 1964 with efforts that ultimately led to the end of legal discrimination and the Kentucky Human Rights Commission being made the state authority charged with investigating and ruling on discrimination complaints,” he said.

Johnson said the Allied Organizations for Civil Rights also hopes to place modern-day human rights at the forefront of the commemorative event, highlighting such issues as encouraging full voter participation and others that affect civil rights such as working to end poverty, improve children’s health, and restore voting rights to former felons whose prison terms have ended.

The Kentucky General Assembly will be in session in March, and the event could present an opportunity for people to visit their state legislators and present to them concerns of Kentuckians who care about a variety of issues, Johnson said. 

“We will be encouraging schools and colleges to bring students to participate in the event, just as they did in 1964,” Johnson said. “We hope to see busloads of students and teachers as well as human rights, religious, disability, and other activist and advocate groups,” he said.