MLK Day march recognizes Norfolk 17

A diverse crowd of hundreds of people wound its way through downtown Norfolk Monday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and celebrate the 50th year since the end of the "massive resistance" in the city that resisted integrating public schools.

"Members of the "Norfolk 17," the first black students to attend Norfolk's previously all white public schools, led the march, including Andrew Heidelberg.

"People thought once we went into the integrated schools everything was fine, but once we went in there, everything really broke out into hell," said Heidelberg. "You can't imagine being called niger, coon, black boy and charlie a thousand times a day, every day."

Dr. Patricia Turner also remembers being a young black student and suffering the wrath of angry whites.

"It was constant name calling, constant pushing," recalled Dr. Turner.

While memories of the past still hurt the surviving members of the "Norfolk 17," the promise of tomorrow's inauguration of the nation's first black president brings about hope and pride.

"I never imagined in my lifetime that we would have a black president," said Johnnie Anita Rouse, a member of the "Norfolk 17."

The celebration continued inside Chrysler Hall and included former white students who were barred from attending classes when the state shut down their schools rather than integrate them.

"10,000 white students in Norfolk had no idea that their senior classes would soon become the lost class of '59," Mary Jane Birdsong, a member of the class of '59, told the crowd.

11 year old Jamar Lamb attended the march and celebration and says Barack Obama has taught him a lesson.

"You can do anything you like if you just work hard and achieve your goals," said Lamb.

Some members of the Norfolk 17 said Monday's celebration and Tuesday's inauguration are two of the best days of their lives.