Monday the Tallahassee Chapter of the NAACP and the City of Tallahassee welcomed organizations, families and friends of the community for their annual march to honor Martin Luther King Jr.
The events started at 10 a.m. at the C.K. Steele Bus Station where over a hundred participants were in attendance, including Greek organizations and city commissioners.
“Martin Luther King paved the way for many of us, enabling us to push harder for our African American community,” said
Beverly Johnson, a member of the FAMU chapter of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority. “It’s only right for us to honor him, his efforts and his accomplishments by marching in his name,” she said.
In addition to honoring King, Tallahassee also honored the Reverend C.K. Steele. Steele too was a civil rights activist, best known as a leader during the Tallahassee bus boycott in 1956.
Steele’s son, Daryl Steele, performed a musical tribute and the speaker for the commemoration was Imam Rashad Mujahid, of Asjid Al-Nahl Mosque in Tallahassee.
“One thing I’ve notice about men like this, is that these people had undying and unwavering faith in God. That’s what united them,” said Mujahid, in reference to King and Steele.
“The Human soul has the capacity to want enlightenment. That’s what drove them and that’s the example that they left to us,” Mujahid said during his speech. The crowd of all races applauded the speaker and cheered as they held their signs about jobs, education and voting.
Mujahid also stressed the responsibility of voting during his speech. “You have the obligation and duty to fulfill. Vote,” he said to the crowd.
According to Juavis Harrington, a member of the NAACP Tallahassee branch Executive Committee, only seven to ten percent of black people eligible to vote do when election time comes. He said that African Americans should to start taking voting seriously. “We must activate, aggravate and agitate,” he said.
The group proceeded to march to the Capitol, during which, the crowd chanted songs, including “We shall overcome”.
Mujahid does not want anyone to forget King’s purpose. “Progress for all people, that’s the promise.”