Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade draws thousands

– The Charlotte community is remembering the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. through their own acts of service.

“We need people to step up to the plate, roll up their sleeves and get involved where they can”, said Coleman.

Clinton told the crowd that deaths of blacks at the hands of police was a civil rights issue.

The theme of the event was “My Life Matters”.

Monday’s 31st annual Kingdom Day Parade down Martin Luther King Jr.

“You see, Dr. King knew that housing was more than about just bricks and mortar”, he said.

The event, which was started by Ridgefield resident Mark Robinson and First Selectman Rudy Marconi, has grown tremendously over the years. With many students having the day off, Catherine Adams says Paine College made a decision to further King’s dream of education for all. “I grew up as Dr. Martin Luther King and today is my dad’s birthday and they are three days apart”.

“We marched just to honor, not protesting”, Lane College NAACP Adviser Ameera Graves said.

“Me and my best friend would not be best friends, because Martin Luther King, Jr. saved us, because black people wouldn’t be talking to white people, and white people wouldn’t be talking to black people”, she said.

Music filled the south steps of the Texas Capitol, as youth with the Vision of Hope AME Church talked about what Dr. King means to them. He said King moved into an apartment on the city’s west side 50 years ago and described seeing “a daily battle against depression and hopelessness”, as babies were attacked by rats, and children wore clothes too thin to protect against the Midwest winter.

“I look forward to being here next year so the next speaker will be able to say in their state of the dream address, that the dream is not in disrepair”. She says SC had to choose between honoring King’s legacy or the Confederacy and made the right choice.

King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in January 1966 had announced plans for the Chicago Freedom Movement.