CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - The city of Charleston honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a breakfast and parade Monday morning.
Royal Missionary Baptist Church hosted its annual MLK Day Breakfast Monday morning.
The packed house sand songs that included “We Shall Overcome” and listened to the words of praise about King’s preachings.
“This event helped us to do what we needed to do in our community and start off January 2019 towards the goal of helping others and loving each other,” MLK Breakfast Chairperson Radia Heyward said.
Some who attended said this was a moment in which love took center stage.
Annual parade featured survivors of shootings at places of worship
Despite temperatures in the 30s, more than 200 units of floats, marchers and vehicles took part in the downtown parade, which was organized by the YWCA.
The streets of Downtown Charleston were filled with people holding signs and posters of King as they walked through the annual parade. Some of those marching say they understand the meaning of King’s message more than most and want to spread the idea of unity.
Members of Mother Emanuel AME Church and congregants from the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue both have horrific shootings in common, so this week they came together to walk arm in arm in the parade.
“Folks in Pittsburgh experienced the same type of massacre as we did, it’s good for us to come together to show the world that hate won’t win, love will,” Wayne Singleton, who lost a relative in the Mother Emanuel shooting, says.
The synagogue members have been in the Lowcountry since Friday on a “trip of healing”. They visited several churches and met people that have been in their shoes, they say that this trip is a great way to honor King’s wishes.
“His struggles and what he stood for is what we are experiencing, it’s helping us to build toward the meaning of what he represented,” Stephen Cohen, President of New Light Congregation says.
The groups walked the streets singing of the unity and equality that Martin Luther King spoke about, saying there are still strides that need to be taken to achieve his charges.
“It’s important to know it’s not just one day,” Singleton says. “We should show this type of commitment every day.”
The groups say that today it was proven that there is unity in the world and that now they can continue to spread their message of standing together to the world with confidence.
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