This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Museum on Main Street program at the Smithsonian Institution and its "Stories from Main Street" initiative. The project is intended to capture Americans' impressions and stories about their small-town and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, and thoughts about American democracy. This story is from a group of narratives inspired by the Smithsonian traveling exhibition, "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America."
Ronnie Phelps: I'm Ronnie. I'm from the neighborhood of Newtown. I've been involved in the Martin Luther King Festival now for 22 years. I set up everything in the park. I host it, I perform in it, and I set up the entertainment. It is on that particular day that I have Sarasota, as a whole community, is there in the park, all different races, all different colors. I love it because it shows us this is what really look like. It's not just the Longboat Key, Siesta Key, where the majority of it is not mixed. But in the Martin Luther King Festival in the park is when you see the blend of everybody. At that moment, it looks like America. I love it because young folks come out. You have the young, the old, the clergy, the police, fire chief, people running for office. And as I stand back, sometimes when I'm on stage and I may be doing... I look around, I'm like, "Wow, look at all this."
(01:13) And everybody's happy. Everybody's smiling. There is no problems. You have the policemen and you maybe have a guy who maybe normally would say, "Man, I don't like being around the police," but he's there. And they're purchasing food and they're intertwining and they're engaging each other. And there's nothing happening. Out of all the 22 years, there's never been not one problem. And I said to myself, "Well, isn't that amazing?" The children are there. The police engaging with the children. The clergy engaging with the children. Even some of the ones who we may say in the community, maybe most undesirable, are there and everybody's engaging in a friendly manner. That's the moment. That's the day. Even though it's chaotic for me, every time I do it, to set everything up, I enjoy that day so much.
(02:06) My mom, she's 88 years old now. I've watched the older folks who sit up front, you know what I'm saying? And they watch the show and they watch the program. And then the vendors come in and they're selling the food. You have non-profit organizations come in. The Republican Party may have a table there, the Democratic Party have a table there. And it is just the collaboration itself, it's a microcosm of what the United States really is. And for that reason, they always could count on me to do it because I just love what it looks like. And maybe I'm a dreamer, but I believe in it that I said, "This is who we really are." You know what I'm saying? I really want to see that, not just for that day, but for the rest of... So, I enjoy that. I enjoy the fact that when the candidates, if it's an electoral year, the candidates come up, "Are you Ronnie?" "Yeah. Oh yeah." "Listen, I'm running for city commissioner or this in district one."
Find a complete transcript at www.museumonmainstreet.org
Asset ID: 2022.36.03.b
