Lexington celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This marked the 50th year Lexington has held a freedom march and a commemorative program

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — The city of Lexington celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who continues inspiring and making others become dreamers.

“The movement he led did not stop when a bullet rang out in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968. The gunman didn’t realize that you can kill a dreamer, but you cannot kill a dream,” said Dr. David Hall, the keynote speaker at this year’s commemorative ceremony.

Hall is also the President of the University of the Virgin Islands.

“Dr. King’s legacy, we’re still standing on his shoulders, and so I think it’s important to pass those lessons and untold lessons down to our young people. It’s only so much that you learn in the context of school. But there’s certain things that are passed down through the generations that we can instill in our youth about MLK’s legacy,” added Devine Carama, the director of One Lexington, an organization whose mission is to coordinate, leverage and mobilize city government and community resources to reduce gun violence with youth and young adults ages 13 – 29 in the city of Lexington.

Rashaun West attended the annual march and the commemorative program alongside his family, he spoke on keeping the legacy alive.

“And it’s really important that we teach love, not just outside the community, but within each other,” said West.

“He stated and I quote, change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle,” also added Dr. Hall, quoting Dr. King.

West also spoke on his family having ties to Dr. King, “My wife, her great uncle marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Reverend Taylor, and that was just really important.”

“There is no better way to honor Dr. King than to keep lighting candles of hope, through how we live, who we elect, and what we do each day,” also said Dr. Hall.

This marked the 50th year Lexington has held a freedom march and a commemorative program, one of the longest-running programs honoring Dr. King.

Dr. King would’ve just celebrated his 94th birthday on Sunday.