Roughly 200 people marched through the streets of Gainesville today singing “We Shall Overcome” in celebration of the life of the late Martin Luther King Jr.
Marchers both young and old gathered at the Butler Center on Athens Street before traveling down E.E. Butler Parkway to Fair Street Elementary School for a special reception sponsored by the Newtown Florist Club.
The reception featured a rendition of the Negro National Anthem, songs by the Antioch Baptist Church Youth Choir and the reading of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech by four-year-old Daliyah Arana before keynote speaker Adrian Cromwell, Assistant Principal of Gainesville High School, gave an impassioned speech about the legacy of King and chasing your dreams.
“As of late, with all that we’ve seen with the racial divide,” said Cromwell after the reception. “With the election and how our races have kind of divided with that and police brutality that has taken place and other issues. I just feel like now more than ever, we need to continue (King’s) dream.
“Those events that have been happening as of late are a testament that we can’t stop now.”
Students from Gainesville High School’s A.W.A.R.E. Club (African-Americans Working to Achieve Relevance and Excellence) were put in charge of planning the entire program.
“It’s great to see (the students) come out and actively get engaged,” Cromwell said.
