LW Historic Bike Ride for MLK Day - Sunday 1/20

The crowd assembled at the Calvary Methodist Church around noon Sunday.  The church sponsors a community bike ride every other month.  This one coincided with the MLK, Jr. holiday.

Lake Worth resident Ted Brownstein briefs those attending on Lake Worth's  founding and racial history.

Bill and I had the pleasure of being a part of the Historic Bike Ride yesterday afternoon to celebrate the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Lake Worth, Florida where, over time, the city has evolved to embrace people of color and the diversity of our population - but that was not always the case.  Despite its founding by black pioneers Fannie and Samuel James, who homesteaded here and ran the first post office of "Jewell" - the city itself endured (and at times promoted) being a segregated community.

Click here for information regarding the route of the bike tour and a detailed history put together by Ted Brownstein that shows the evolution of race relations in the city of Lake Worth over time.

Formerly known as a wall of segregation, now known as the Wall of Unity.  See remains of barbed wire atop the wall.  This was the dividing line between the black and white areas of town - originally constructed in the 1950s.

We couldn't finish the entire ride due to other commitments.  If you participated and have pictures or video that you would like to share, please e-mail me at wesblackman@gmail.com

Click here for related Palm Beach Post article.