January 16, 2023- Community members, leaders, and law enforcement honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by participating in the 37th Annual Freedom March.

The march began at Mueller Park. Participants proceeded to the Decatur Civic Center, where a program celebrating Dr. King took place. The celebration was coordinated by a subcommittee of the Decatur Human Relations Commission.

“It is a great day to be able to come back together to march down the streets of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive,” Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said.

The event was open to the public, and was held in the Decatur Civic Center’s theater. The theme of the program was “Teaching Our Past Improves Our Future”.

“We are going to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King today, and we are also going to move towards the future,” Mayor Moore Wolfe said. “A much brighter future because of what he brought to us and the world, and what all of you can continue to bring to this community.

The program’s keynote speaker was Richard Hansen, author and history teacher at Mt. Zion High School.

“In this society, when we have legislators that are saying if it makes you feel uncomfortable, don’t talk about it, we are doing a massive disservice to our students,” Hansen said.

During the program, students from DPS 61 who were selected as winners of the “Now is the Time to Live the Dream” contest, read their poems or essays, or displayed their artwork.

The event concluded with the audience singing “We shall Overcome”, a gospel song that became a key anthem of the Civil Rights Movement.