Thousands of people turned out for the 29th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in Dallas Monday.
Thousands of people danced and celebrated as the parade rolled on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, ending at Fair Park. Bands, dance teams and cheerleaders from schools across the city as well as local businesses and organizations showed their support as well.
Parade organizer Darryl Blair — whose father was one of the parade's founders 29 years ago — said he's proud to keep the tradition going.
"This an opportunity to be festive and to celebrate, but this is not an opportunity to rest on your laurels," he said. "We have to keep working to keep progress. That's what Martin Luther King was all about."
Parade attendee Quentin Draper seconded the notion, citing that as a main reason he brought his 9-year-old daughter to the parade.
“We need to continue to promote, peace, justice and equality," Parade visitor Quentin Draper said. "I think there’s been much progress, but there’s still progress to be made.”
Nearly 1,000 people walked through downtown Fort Worth in the Greater Fort Worth Martin Luther King, Jr. parade.
Fort Worth police estimate another 1,000 people lined the streets to watch it.
“They just turned out tremendously to honor a man that is for nonviolence, a man for peace and a man knew you have to educate in order to know where you’re going to go,” said parade organizer Robert Jackson.
The parade featured six high school bands from Fort Worth and one from Desoto.
Volunteers in Fort Worth also spent Monday helping others. The Tarrant Churches Together MLK day of service was promoted as a "stream of compassion" to serve together across the community.
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Parades, Marches Part of MLK Remembrances Across Texas
Parades and other community pride events have been held across Texas to remember slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Crowds turned out for Monday's MLK march in San Antonio. Organizers expected more than 100,000 people to attend the event billed as one of the largest King marches in the country.
Marches and parades honoring King were also held in cities including Houston, Dallas and Nacogdoches. A march and a peace rally were held in Amarillo.
As the marchers made their away along the route in San Antonio, excitement built at the park where the march ended, where the people were enjoying speeches, music and food.
"It's just an unbelievable feeling of camaraderie with the community, and keeping hope alive," Joyce Mitchell, a veteran of seven MLK Day marches who staffed a park booth for ITT Technical Institute, told the San Antonio Express-News.
Ghada Ghannam and Chrissa Kozaki from the University of Texas at San Antonio said they felt honored to take part in the San Antonio march.
"This is everyone's struggle," said Ghannam, 20, originally from Egypt. "Regardless of where they're from."
Volunteers in some Texas cities, including Fort Worth, spent the day helping others. The Tarrant Churches Together MLK day of service was promoted as a "stream of compassion" to serve together across the community.
"There's always a way you can serve," Rev. Melinda Veatch, executive director of Tarrant Churches Together, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "In serving, you also receive such a huge blessing."
At the San Antonio march, dozens of people protested the deaths last year of two black men by police officers: Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York City. The protesters lay motionless in the middle of the street for 19 minutes.
