The morning started out overcast and warm, but as the procession appeared on the horizon of the Main Street bridge, the sun began to burst through.
On the morning of Monday, Jan. 16, hundreds of Taylorites young and old, from all walks of life, carried on an 18-year tradition of a solemn, yet joyful march from the Dickey Givens Community Center to Heritage Square mto commemorate and celebrate the life of the slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“ This is a march of celebration, not a protest” said Shorty Mitchell, who has served as the chair for the organizing committee for 16 years. “That is why we have such a diverse group.”
With escorts from the Taylor Police and Fire Departments, marchers made their way along Martin Luther King Boulevard and Main Street, holding up images of King, as well as Rosa Parks and other civil rights movement icons, as the Taylor High School Marching Band and Color Guard streamed their flags and beat their drums.
“This is one of the largest (marches) in the country,” said Michaela Watson, a featured young performer who later led attendees in a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a hymn by James Weldon Johnson also known as the Negro National Anthem.
“You wouldn’t see this much diversity at this event even 10 years ago.”
After the procession, participants gathered at the amphitheater in Heritage Square for a program featuring area clergy, elected officials and other dignitaries, as well as a 15-minute excerpt from “The Drum Major Instinct,” a sermon King delivered shortly before his death, in which he exhorts people to harness their selfish desire to be first as a force for serving others.
“We can all serve,” said the Rev. Anthony Watson, pastor of The First Baptist Church of Taylor. “We can all seek to make a difference in the communities where we live … (King) gave his life trying to do something that was right. Let’s live to serve other than ourselves to make for a greater Taylor.”
