DANVILLE — Members of the Danville NAACP branch #3009 marched alongside locals to honor Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday morning. Despite a wind chill of negative ten degrees, several people participated in the march. Some carried flags memorializing the activist while others drove behind in a motorcade.
The march is an annual event that honors the life and message of King by keeping his name fresh in the memories of the community.
“Just by that simple walk and people seeing this, bringing up his name, will make people remember,” said Devonta Brooks, education and environmental chair for the branch. “And maybe we won’t make those same mistakes that we made throughout history.”
The march, led by Danville police, traveled down Main Street, then turned north through downtown Danville to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the corner of Jackson and Williams Streets.
At the memorial, Brooks gave a speech encouraging those present to take inspiration from King’s actions.
“His dream was not just about hope, it was about action, about speaking up when it’s uncomfortable, about serving others even when it’s hard, like today because it’s cold,” Brooks said. “As we remember him today, let us not only quote his words, but believe them. Let us choose service over silence, fairness over fear and progress over complicity.”
The branch’s president, Edward Butler then led the group in prayer, quoting King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. He said that King’s values hold extra weight in times of chaos.
“People like us that believe in the dream of kindness and love and togetherness — we got to keep that moving,” Butler said. “I believe in it myself, and then as long as the breath still in me, I’m going to be out here trying to make it happen.”
The memorial was followed by a church service at St. James United Methodist Church.
Brooks said the march typically draws between 50- 60 participants, but the extreme cold weather kept many people in their homes. He said the NAACP branch worked with local police and Danville Police Chief Chris Yates to organize the march and ensure participants’ safety.