Gainesville mothers pushed strollers, the elderly walked with their canes and people sang hymns at the annual march to remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
"We have these activities so others don't forget," said Diyonna McGraw, vice president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Florida Inc.
About 2,000 people attended the commemorative event, she said.
"This is an opportunity to educate young people," said McGraw, 42. "Because of King, we march. And we march to remember his mission."
The march started at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza and ended at the Martin Luther King Jr. Multipurpose Center.
"The march is symbolic of King's legacy and his march," she said. "If we forget the past, we are doomed to repeat it."
Gainesville Police Department closed down West University Avenue from East 11th Street to Waldo Road and down Waldo Road to Northeast 10th Avenue.
"We are here to educate about what he stood for," said Derrious Robinson, 21-year-old UF electrical engineering senior.
Robinson is the president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the same fraternity King joined
Robinson said he and his fraternity members are proud to call King a brother and excited to continue his legacy.
"He had a huge impact on how black students are treated on campus," he said. "We want to get involved in MLK's mission."
He said all students should look to King as an inspiration.
"More student organizations could get involved with his legacy," he said.
Some students celebrate King's memory through service.
Rachel Richards, 23, coordinator of a citywide service day, said about 250 people volunteered Monday morning.
The 12 volunteering sites included Wilmot Gardens, Florida Organic Growers and the Children's Home Society, she said.
"[King] was inspired by service because he saw it firsthand," she said.
King saw service as an important component of his life, she said.
"He saw what it did for the community. He saw what it did for him," Richards said. "And he wanted to give to that cycle, and that is why students are inspired by him."
Rodnie Saint-Germain, 19-year-old Santa Fe College health science sophomore, said she had never marched in a King celebration before Monday.
Saint-Germain said the speakers inspired her to march.
She said she plans to walk again next year.
"I came here for MLK. This is the least I could do," she said.
Marchers celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. at the annual King Celebration Commemorative March on Monday afternoon in Bo Diddley Community Plaza.
