Bundled in coats and scarves, hundreds of people filled Gainesville’s streets on Monday morning to honor the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with banners and cheers.
The parade brought together residents, civic leaders and local organizations under this year’s theme, “Steadfast & Unmovable Against All Odds.” The Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Florida organized the event.
Rodney Long, president and founder of the commission, said he was inspired by King’s nonviolent activism while growing up in the 1960s, when King was most active.
“No organization in this community has done more for the Martin Luther King Commission, and the things we do here to honor Dr. King, than the city of Gainesville,” he said in his speech, awarding the city a presidential award.
Before the march, organizers held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the reopening of the renovated Martin Luther King Memorial Garden, located downtown just north of Bo Diddley Plaza. The expanded garden now includes additional entrances and increased accessibility.
“It’s more friendly now, it’s more open, and it’s going to be a part of a flowing space in downtown Gainesville,” Long said. “It’s important not just to me, but to the world — mainly because of the principles and deeds for which he [King] stood.”
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the commission awarded the 2026 Edna M. Hart Keeper of the Dream scholarship to Essence Davis, a 17-year-old Eastside High School senior.
Davis said she plans to attend law school to advocate for those she feels “didn’t get the opportunity or help they needed the most.”
“Martin Luther King fought for everybody’s rights,” Davis said. “He believed that everybody had a right to live equally and to have the right to live their life in peace.”
Also honored was Diyonne McGraw, a former member of Alachua County’s school board, who was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Florida’s hall of fame.
Following the ceremony, participants marched from the garden to the Martin Luther King Jr. Multipurpose Center. Groups including Sunday Assembly Gainesville, the Alachua County Democratic Party and Indivisible Gainesville marched alongside families, students and longtime residents.
Monique Costantino, a protest organizer with the Badass Feminists of Gainesville, said her involvement in social justice causes dates back decades. She recalled canvassing for George McGovern, a former U.S. senator and presidential candidate, in the 1970s.
“The more connections that we have, the stronger we become,” Costantino said. “We need to rebuild society.”
At the multipurpose center, attendees accessed community resources such as voter registration, a mobile cancer screening clinic and a food pantry, the latter sponsored by UF Health.
The celebration ended with musical and dance performances by groups, including Ministries of Expressive Song & Dance and 1000 Voices of Florida Ensemble.
Outside the center, Miriam Welly Elliott held a sign that read, “Black Lives Matter, Martin Luther King would resist Trump, get active, organize.”
Elliott, who has attended the parade since the 1980s, said King’s teachings shaped her worldview in high school and described him as a “guiding light.”
“The more people are visible, the more it encourages other people to be visible,” Elliott said. “We’ve got to stand up as a huge community, throughout our nation, to resist what’s going on in our government.”
Contact Julianna Bendeck at jbendeck@alligator.org.
Julianna Bendeck is a contributing writer for The Alligator.
