Daytonians brave subzero chill for MLK Day march, King’s principles

“We still have challenges today,” said Anthony Whitmore, one of the organizers of the march. “We still have discrimination. We still are not equal.”

Due to the frigid conditions, marchers finished the event at the end of the West Third Street bridge (the Peace Bridge) instead of continuing to Sinclair Community College, where the march traditionally ends.

Whitmore called on the marchers to be willing to make the sacrifices needed to make people equal.

Derrick Foward, president of the Dayton chapter of the NAACP, said King stood for all Americans to have an opportunity for equal access to health care, to education and to political representation.

“Those are things that he stood for and he died for, and we will continue to honor his legacy,” Foward said.

Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims said the marchers represented love and peace.

He praised the teenagers and kids who came out and marched with family members.

“We knew it was gonna be cold,” Mims said. “Like I said before, it’s worth it, it’s worth demonstrating, to come together in a peaceful fashion, to demonstrate and love each other.”

Lake Miller, director of education at the National Conference for Community and Justice of Greater Dayton, said it was important to come out to the marches and show the youth with him that people in the community support justice.

“We’re here, present, and part of the conversation,” Miller said.

Chrisondra Goodwine, president of Dayton Public Schools' Board of Education, said she had come to the march with two of her nephews and some other family members to continue a family tradition. Her grandfather, Rev. Raleigh Trammell, was one of the organizers of the march before he died, she said.

“It’s very important to continue to do this,” Goodwine said.

The march is part of a series of events put on to discuss racial justice in Dayton during January. Other events included an interfaith breakfast on Friday, a concert on Sunday at Shiloh Baptist Church, an MLK Youth Celebration on Monday and a celebration banquet at the Arcade on Monday night.