Ninth year for events in Amarillo
AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Traffic came to a stand-still as hundreds of people took to the pavement to march in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday.
This was the ninth year the march and celebration were held in Amarillo. The group marched from Bones Hooks Park down Hughes Street to the MLK Memorial.
Marchers sang songs, proudly waved Dr. King and Barack Obama signs, and grooved to the beat of a couple of local drum lines.
This was possibly the largest crowd for the march, and organizers say the event is held to promote unity in the Amarillo community.
"It's just bringing unity. That was one of Dr. Martin Luther King's dreams. He just wanted everybody to be unified and I do believe that doing this every year and just keeping everybody informed that we need to continue on with the dream. And with this year's election, with the United States electing the first African-American president, I do believe that's making it even bigger because it has been a dream that has pretty much been fulfilled. So everybody's excited about it and everybody wants to be a part of it," said Idella Jackson, coordinator of the MLK celebration.
Eric Mims, a coach at Palo Duro High School, was the keynote speaker and former Potter County Commissioner Iris Lawrence served as grand marshal.
