Commentary: Crossing Historic Lines: Why Alamogordo’s MLK Day March from 10th Street to Dudley School Matters in 2026

As we stand on the cusp of Martin Luther King Jr. Day—Monday, January 19, 2026—in Alamogordo, this year’s observance carries an especially profound resonance for our community. The annual MLK Freedom March and celebration, themed “Mission Possible II: Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Nonviolent Way,” is not merely an event; it is a living testament to Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved Community, where justice, equality, and nonviolent action bridge divides and uplift every resident.

What makes this year’s march particularly meaningful is its deliberate route: beginning at the Lowe’s Grocery Store parking lot near 10th Street and culminating at the historic Dudley School Community Center. This path is far from arbitrary; it traces a symbolic journey across one of Alamogordo’s most historically charged boundaries.

With the founding of Alamogordo, 10th Street served as an invisible but very real dividing line in our town. North of 10th Street represented the predominantly Anglo areas with greater access to resources, opportunities, and public spaces. South of 10th Street—encompassing neighborhoods like Chihuahuita—was home to the city’s Hispanic and African American communities, where segregation was a understood and accepted part of daily life. Hispanic children attended the Dudley School (originally built in 1914 as a facility for Spanish-speaking students to teach English), while Black students went to schools like Delaware/Corinth. Integration came gradually: Hispanic students began entering Alamogordo High School in the late 1940s, with full desegregation for Black students following in the early 1950s, spurred in part by military families at Holloman Air Force Base demanding equity. The Dudley school for a short period hosted both Black and Hispanic\Mexicano children with now Mayor Sharon McDonald attending one of those last classes held at Dudley School.

The 2026 Alamogordo MLK march starts just north of this historic line and crosses it deliberately—moving down 10th Street to New York Avenue, then proceeding south toward Maryland Avenue—symbolizing the crossing of barriers that once restricted movement. It is a powerful symbolic act of reclamation reflecting on life prior to 1950, a united group of participants representing various cultures and races unite physically and spiritually to traverse the old divides, affirming that no street, no line on a map, should separate us in pursuit of justice.

The march concludes at Dudley School, a building steeped in layered history. Once a segregated transitional school for Hispanic children and Black children. The Dudley has been lovingly restored through community efforts—led in part by volunteers from the Tularosa Basin Historic Society and hands -on support from Commissioner Warren Robinson and Mayor Sharon McDonald, with strong advocacy from local leaders—into a vibrant community center.

Today, Dudley School stands as a beacon of preservation, education, and unity, hosting displays on history in the Tularosa Basin, eventually it will be hosting stories of families who attended, and stories of the neighborhood tied to Black and Hispanic culture. Ending the march at the Dudley transforms a site of past separation into a space of present-day gathering, reflection, forward momentum and community pride from dereliction to community service.

Adding even greater depth to this year’s events is the special proclamation to be read by Mayor Sharon McDonald, who made history in late 2025 as the first citizen ELECTED Black mayor not only of Alamogordo but of any city in New Mexico. An Alamogordo resident raised on the historic Miami Street (showcased as the Miami Street Experience in an an exhibit at the Tularosa Basin Museum), and former District 5 Commissioner, Mayor McDonald has championed revitalization in historically underserved areas—including investments in sidewalks, parks, New York Avenue and the Dudley School restoration itself during her time on the commission.

Her leadership embodies the very progress Dr. King envisioned: breaking barriers through persistence, compassion, and cross-community collaboration in a deeply conservative region.

When Mayor McDonald reads the proclamation at Dudley School following the march (as part of the 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. program featuring speakers, educational displays, networking, and a special “March Style Luncheon”), it will mark a full-circle moment. A descendant of communities once confined south of 10th Street now stands as the city’s highest elected official, proclaiming unity and nonviolent progress in a space that once symbolized exclusion.

This MLK Day 2026 in Alamogordo Events led by Rev. and City Commissioner Warren Robinson is a reminder that history is not static—it’s a path we continue to walk. By marching from north to south, crossing old lines, and gathering at Dudley School under the leadership of our trailblazing mayor, we honor Dr. King’s dream while actively building it here at home. All are invited—families, schools, churches, veterans, ROTC, civic groups—to join with family-friendly banners bearing Dr. King’s words or messages of local unity.

In a divided world, Alamogordo has the chance to show what is possible when we choose nonviolence, service, and shared purpose to build the Beloved Community. Let’s make this MLK Day 2026 a symbolic and powerful step toward the Beloved Community, one block—and one historic crossing—at a time.

For complete event details, visit https://blackhistoryalamogordo.com/mlk-day-march-events-2026.

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