Hundreds honor MLK at annual parade, noting how much work still needs to be done

To honor the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., hundreds celebrated his life and contributions to the civil rights movement at the 41st annual MLK parade in Liberty City on Monday, his birthday.

King, a Baptist minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner who championed civil rights and social justice, was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis. He was 39.

At Monday’s parade, high school marching bands, athletes and cheerleaders, plus floats and Carnival dancers, flooded the streets of Liberty City along Northwest 54th Street from 10th to 32nd avenues. Some of the marchers carried signs highlighting King’s message about inequality between blacks and whites, noting how much work still needs to be done. Said one banner: “Same struggle. Same fight. 500 years of resistance!”

The parade — just one of several MLK events held over the holiday weekend — ended with a celebration at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park in Miami. Last year, eight people were injured at the park in a shootout between rival gangs.

This story was originally published January 15, 2018 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Hundreds honor MLK at annual parade, noting how much work still needs to be done."