7th Annual MLK Day Parade and Celebration Monday, January 20, 2020

La Marque Alumni Association is gearing up for the 7th Annual 2020 MLK Parade & Celebration which begins from La Marque High School and ends with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration at McKinney Memorial UMC off Nashby Street in City of La Marque.
According to Nakisha Paul, 2020 La Marque Alumni Association Parade Chair, there is still time to register, but applications are due by Tuesday, January 14, 2020. Churches, business owners, sororities, fraternities, social clubs, car clubs, motorcycle clubs, trail riders and individuals are encouraged to participate.
Parade lineup begins at 8:30 a.m. at 300 Vauthier Road in La Marque. Parade Marshal Mrs. Ollie Jewel Williams will begin the parade at 10:00 a.m. Mrs. Williams is an 83-year-old retired music teacher and a product of the Lincoln-Woodland schools. She retired after teaching in La Marque for 34 years.
From LMHS, the parade route travels down Vauthier toward Texas Avenue (FM 1765), turns right, takes another right on Albert Street and ends at McKinney UMC off Nashby Street.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Celebration will happen inside McKinney United Methodist Church following the parade. Big Phil's Smokehouse and Catering will have BBQ plates for sale. High Praise Dance Ministry will perform, and La Marque High School senior London Burleson will sing a solo. Mainland Preparatory Classical Academy will send 10 students to orate Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. LMHS Alumni, Pastor Malcolm Dotson is Master of Ceremony, and Pastor Kenneth Benjamin, Jr. of New Creation Church of God of Prophecy will deliver the message. The 2020 theme is “Envision Change: Act Now!”
Nakisha Paul is passionate about the MLK Day parade. She invites the entire community to come out and celebrate.
“I love MY community,” said Paul. “This community helped raise me and supported me in every way. Hosting this parade alongside La Marque Alumni Association is my way of giving back to the very community that gave me everything! I am who I am because of the lessons I learned while growing up right here in La Marque and Texas City.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a social activist and Baptist minister who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. King sought equality and human rights for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and all victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 1963 March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday since 1986.
For information on the 2020 MLK Day Parade in La Marque, Texas, or the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration at McKinney United Methodist Church, contact Nakisha Paul at 409-766-0049 or John N. Humphrey at 409-934-1371.