TYLER, Texas — Tyler's Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration will be making a return after being absent for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The committee made the decision Tuesday to proceed with MLK activities, which includes the MLK march in Downtown Tyler.
“If you could have given us a nickel for every time somebody asked us if the event going to happen," said Kenneth Cobb. "This is what we knew that this is what the people in the city of Tyler wanted.”
This year will be the city’s 36th year celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The MLK Day march brings hundreds of organizations, schools and residents together in unity to honor Dr. King.
“I know that people are eager to get out and to just celebrate, again, the freedoms that we have to do so" said Kim Lewis. "And to see each other and just enjoy the day."
With COVID-19 cases rising in east Texas, event organizer Cobb says he plans on implementing proper safety measures to ensure the event isn’t the cause of a major outbreak.
“We're going to be providing masks to everybody who decides that they want to come,” said Cobb. “We want to make sure that we're not putting them in a place where it becomes a hub for an outbreak.”
Lewis is this year's keynote speaker who plans on giving a speech on how she turned her life challenges into opportunities and the importance of having a positive influence.
“No matter what your walk of life is, we all can make it, if we stand in the shadows of Martin Luther King, and we don't have to try to walk in his shoes, certainly because we have our own shoes to fill,” said Lewis. “But we can learn from his experiences and take his words as motivation to do the very best that we can within our circles of influence every single day.”
The parade is set to start on the square at 9:30 a.m. and end at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception located at 423 S. Broadway Ave.