The crowd of more than 400 started at Mount Zion Baptist Church on Monday morning, carrying signs, flags and megaphones, chanting and singing to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.
On their way down Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, the marchers shouted calls for peace and sang hymns about freedom.
Forty-four years after King's assassination — and almost 50 years after his most famous speech — they said they want to be sure they remember what he stood for.
Shanda Neal, a recent graduate of Winston-Salem State University, said she brought her daughter, 9-year-old Alyric Neal, to the march so Alyric could see activists at work.
"I want her to know there are people who have shed their blood so she can have the freedoms she has," Neal said as she marched. "I think so many people don't realize — politics is going to be involved with them whether they are involved or not. I want her to know her voice should be heard."
The marchers chanted as they walked — "No justice, no peace!" — and sang:
"Oh freedom, oh freedom. Oh, freedom over me. And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave, and go home to my Lord and be free."
Many carried signs calling for Kalvin Michael Smith's freedom. Smith was convicted in 1997 for the beating of store clerk Jill Marker and is serving a 23-to-29-year prison sentence. The attack left Marker needing 24-hour care. Smith has always maintained his innocence.
One such sign was carried by 12-year-old Kayla Burns, who said Smith's case made her sad.
"Sometimes people don't do the things that other people say they do," she said. "I don't think people should have to be in jail that long."
Others said they marched because the social problems King tried to solve — racial disparity, poverty and war — are still problems today.
"There's still a lot of racism," said Tonya Williams, who said she has been marching in the Winston-Salem parade since the 1980s. "As long as people raise their children to be racist, we'll be fighting forever."
Williams said the parade could help because people of all races marched in it. About halfway into the march, Williams — who is black — turned to the white woman next to her to talk about the march.
The woman, Sally Hirsh, explained that she was a member of Occupy Winston-Salem, which is part of a nationwide movement of Occupy groups trying to eliminate corporate influence in politics.
Hirsh said she was walking for justice for people and for the environment.
"I want to see people taking care of each other and taking care of the earth," she said. "Justice is number one."
Still, some marchers — including 12-year-old Kayla — said they think people have improved their relationships with one another.
"Martin Luther King said he had a dream that someday, white girls and black girls would be friends, and that's happening now," Kayla said. She thought for a moment about what she had learned from studying Martin Luther King Jr., then said:
"Even though some people are different colors, you should always treat them with respect."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement