MLK march draws hundreds

People march west on West Silver Springs Boulevard during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day March in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

Home » Community

Posted January 21, 2022 | By Susan Smiley-Height

Annual event was culmination of several commemorative activities.

The low temperature and biting winds early Monday did not deter the hundreds of people who participated in the annual MLK March from downtown Ocala to the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Complex in West Ocala.

Numerous groups and individual walkers, many bearing signs and banners, made the journey in solidarity and in honor of the revered civil rights leader and icon. As one trio stepped off on the march, they raised their voices in a stirring a cappella version of “We Shall Overcome.”

As the march ended at the recreation complex, A Day in the Park commenced, with several community organizations and businesses manning tables and offering information and handouts. Several groups, along with food trucks, offered food and, thankfully, hot coffee and cocoa.

Ocala City Council President Ire Bethea welcomed the attendees and called attention to the elected officials and other civic leaders in the crowd. A number of musical and dance presentations followed, with a huge crowd line dancing across the Webb Field lawn to the “Electric Slide.”

The event was filled with an air of festivity combined with a solemnity of spirit. Dr. King was honored in various ways, including through prayer, poetry and recitations. Attendees of all ages and ethnicities embraced the celebration and, quite often, each other.

The MLK March and Day in the Park were the final activities hosted by the Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Commemorative Commission, which earlier in the week included a prayer breakfast, wreath ceremony, MLK Youth Day and an ecumenical service.