FOLLOWING SACRED GROUND: Free public event and Family Festival honors and advances Dr. King’s legacy STOCK PHOTO

Miami (BPRW) – Recognized as the most influential figure in the U.S. Civil Rights movement, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is honored annually for his work as an advocate and leader for economic development and equal rights for minorities.

On Jan. 20, 2025 – the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day federal holiday – one can join thousands in Miami’s Liberty City for a celebratory parade and day of festivities for the entire family.

This year’s theme, “Transforming the Dream,” celebrates the 62nd anniversary of Dr. King’s "I Have A Dream" speech and advocates for taking nonviolent action toward achieving equality, justice, and change for all.

Beginning at 11 a.m., the 2½-hour parade takes place along NW 54th Street on a route from NW 7th Avenue to NW 32nd Avenue, following the sacred ground King once travelled during his frequent visits to Miami.

The festivities continue until 6 p.m. at a Family Festival in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park with live music, dance and theatrical performances, a crafts marketplace, food vendors, and children’s activities.

This year is slated to be bigger than ever. Miami’s best and brightest young performers will be bringing their talents to the street during the parade, illustrating that although times change, traditions will always bring the community together.

Local politicians, police, fire and rescue departments, parks and recreation, community leaders, state representatives, media outlets, business owners, entertainers, labor groups, historians, volunteers, and corporations join others in the community to celebrate the events, cofounded in 1977 by the late Dr. Preston Marshall and Ladi Jenkins, current Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade & Festivities Committee president.

Formed in 1985, the Festivities Committee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation headquartered in Miami and committed to celebrating and expanding the grand vision of freedom, justice, and equality for all people by annually commemorating King’s uplifting message of virtuous, non-violent change, and providing a dynamic, accessible forum for empowering education that inspires personal and societal transformation.

The organization is devoted to living and sharing the tenets of love that King unwaveringly taught, and in so doing, envisioned eradicating the scourge of poverty, racism, and brutality so that a new generation might wholly thrive in the light of prosperity, impartiality, and peace.