Hundreds gathered at Heritage Hall Monday morning to participate in Lexington’s annual Freedom March, which celebrates the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent figure and leader of the American Civil Rights Movement.
The diverse crowd began marching at 11:00am through downtown Lexington in freezing temperatures. Participants held banners and signs and sung traditional freedom march songs like “We Shall Overcome” and “This Little Light of Mine”.
Among those marching were several organized groups, to include Black Lives Matter and Moms Demand Action. Moms Demand Action is a national organization rallying against guns violence in America.
A commemorative holiday program was held immediately after the march inside Heritage Hall. The event kicked off with a live performance by Zeb Harrison & The Sounds of Praise, a trombone “shout” band from Charlotte, North Carolina that also performed in Lexington’s 2014 MLK Holiday Program.
This year’s program theme was “Transforming our Pain into Power”, derived from the title of a 2014 critically acclaimed empowerment book by Daniel Beaty. Beaty, an award-winning actor, singer, writer and activist, gave the keynote address during the ceremony.
Among those in attendance was Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, who also addressed the crowd via a pre-filmed segment in which she addressed racial discrimination, the opioid crisis, and Lexington’s commitment to diversity and equality.
“The whole purpose of today is to say we believe in unity, we believe in including people in everything we do, and we want to banish discrimination and bigotry and the things that tear us apart,” Mayor Gorton said. “It’s really a great inspiration to me to see everyone who came out.”
Several groups attended the celebration and marched in support of causes not traditionally associated with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, such as the LGBTQ+ community, the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
Jennifer Van Ort-Hazzard, a staff member of NAMI, said the group participated in the march because there is a stigma about mental illness, especially in multicultural populations.
“We wanted to let them know they’re welcome, and there’s a place to go, and we want them to know they’re not alone,” Van Ort-Hazzard said.
Mayor Gorton said she thinks it’s great that other causes are latching on to the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to spread awareness.
“That same message is now getting out to everybody, so I’m thrilled that so many different organizations came to say ‘we are supportive, we also want this for our community’”, Mayor Gorton said. “The more, the better.”
The annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Celebration concluded with a free public showing of the film Loving at the Kentucky Theater. Loving is a biographical film about Richard and Mildred Loving. Richard, a white man, and Mildred, a black woman, were plaintiffs in the 1967 case Loving v. Virginia, in which the supreme court struck down all state laws banning interracial marriage.
