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Freedom Parade Inspires All

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN

gnewman@tampatrib.com

Published: January 28, 2009

PLANT CITY - The "I Have a Dream" speech delivered by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial more than 45 years ago continues to inspire people throughout the nation and the world.

Participants and spectators in the 23rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Parade in Plant City said the Jan. 17 parade helped celebrate King's legacy and the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first black president.

Keith Jackson, a social studies teacher at Plant City High School and his wife, Karen, who teaches at Dover Elementary School, were pleased with the parade.

"This is not and should not be a celebration by people only in the black community," Keith Jackson said. "King's dream that people of all colors would come together in friendship and love is a dream we must all strive for and seek to achieve."

Alicia Hicks, also a teacher at the local high school, has attended many of the annual parades celebrating the slain civil rights leader. This year's parade was three days before Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration.

"It is significant that so soon after the national celebration of Dr. King's legacy that we will be swearing Barack Obama in as president," Hicks said. "There is an obvious correlation to the dream so beautifully stated by Dr. King. But they should be viewed as two separate and significant calls for celebration."

The parade was led by police motorcycles and squad cars with sirens blaring. A local high school Jr. ROTC honor guard carried the U.S. and state flags, followed by officials and family members of the parade sponsor, the Improvement League of Plant City.

City officials, school bands and marching baton twirlers and majorettes were interspersed among floats and classic and sports cars.

Kenya Hall and Tee Hall, no relation but who have friends in the Valrico area, came to Plant City to celebrate.

"This is our first time coming here, but it seemed right to be here today," Tee Hall said. "The MLK parade and celebration is like Dr. King's dream. They are made up of vision and hope, where human beings will treat each other with love and respect."

Kenya Hall said she enjoyed the parade because of the closeness and neighborhood feeling it gave her. Both agreed that Obama's inauguration added a sweet flavor to the celebration.

"There is a spirit of change and new freedoms in our country," Kenya Hall said. "There is a new hope in the city, the state and the country."

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451.

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