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The temperatures may have been hovering around the freezing mark, but that didn’t chill the enthusiasm from the businesses, civic organizations, local law enforcement and area politicians who turned out Monday to honor the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during Ocoee’s 18th annual MLK Day Parade.
The parade rolled down Clarke Road from Citrus Elementary School to the West Oaks Mall — where a program of speakers was planned to celebrate the civil rights icon — featured 37 participating organizations, including the incomparable Ocoee High School Marching Knights, according to Kaitlyn Ochoa, the city’s community events specialist.
This year brought the 40th celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a federal holiday. As the Trump administration has worked to eliminate much of the diversity and equality that King fought for during the 1960s civil rights movement — firing military leaders and government department heads who were Black; purging government agencies and national parks of content that told the history of enslavement, segregation and racial terror; refocusing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to address discrimination against white people, whom President Trump told New York Times reporters were "very badly treated" by the Civil Rights Act — marking the day has taken on particular significance. Many of those VoxPopuli talked with at the parade and the post-parade celebration noted that remembering and honoring King this year was more important than ever.
Here’s what they told us.
"I’m really grateful for the moment to stop time and kind of hold space for the late great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. It’s a little emotional today, especially with what’s going on with our immigrants and ICE, and you know, quite honestly, the fascism that’s happening right here in our state. But I remember a historic speech that Martin Luther King gave in 1967 and the title of the speech is "Where Do We Go From Here?" The close of the speech he talks about how we need to be dissatisfied. And even though it’s been 59, 60 years later, I think we still need to be dissatisfied. I think it's our responsibility and our moral obligation to be dissatisfied. So while I am celebrating, I’m honoring this day with service, I am also dissatisfied with where we are right now. I'm dissatisfied with the decisions that lawmakers have made, but I'm also invigorated, invigorated and excited to fight. That's how I feel about today."
"It's always been important that we further pursue the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But as we are now in a cultural crisis where we are heading back to the things that he fought so hard against, it's time for all of us to up the ante and get to work to ensure that we're moving forward and not back."
" We have to get away from commercializing this holiday and truly recognizing the sacrifice that this represents and what his life represents. Justice doesn't come just because we say we want justice and peace. It's how we act, how we respond, how we treat people. That's when we see true justice and peace in our community. And that's what I hope that we, as a community, start to resonate with how we live, how we work, how we serve when we truly honor this holiday.”
"Commemorating Dr. King on this day is important because he's a part of American history, history where he fought for what was right. He said, The arc of the moral universe bends toward justice. In this current climate in our nation, what’s better than today to come out and commemorate him and to think about his memory because even in 2026, we still aren't there yet. So to come out and make sure that we pay attention to history, that we make sure our history is being taught to all people in America, and that this is just as important as any other holiday. That's why we're celebrating in 2026.
"I believe people need to not see this as a day off, but that it's a day of service. We need to get out, we need to be engaged in this type of activity all across the nation and yes, we have to work a little harder right now because we've got to get past the narrative that is currently permeating the entire country, the narrative of division, driving wedges between people. That's the narrative that we have to overcome. And as Dr. King says, we have to continue to choose love versus hate. And that's what this day means, and that's why it's so important to be here today.”
“Today’s the day everybody gets to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. [Nearly 20 years] we've had the Martin Luther King parade, the celebration of his life and what he did for all the people around him. It's a great day. It's a little chilly out this morning, but it's a good day.”
"Martin Luther King represents to me the very best in humanity. He was, to me, an antibody created to deal with the racial discrimination and hatred that was going on in the country. At the time, his message was a universal message. And I argue with people or have debate with people, that this is a Black holiday. It's not a Black holiday. It's an American holiday. Because what he said and what he addressed affects all of us. It's important today when we seem to have lost our way. We've become so polarized that we are weakening our union. And to me, the United States' greatest strength is its diversity and its unity. And without both, I think we'd be in trouble.
"So it's a good reset. It's a good refresher to remind us who we are and what's important to life. My favorite quote he has is Love your enemies. And he talked about how hate damages the one who's being hated, but it destroys the hater. And the only thing that can redeem the hater is to love them. So it's difficult at times, but it's necessary that we continue to love each other, to tolerate each other and to have dialogue. I think when we stop speaking, we really stop growing as a nation."
"I remember doing Little League parades when I was 7, 8 years old, the looks you would get from some of the residents along the route. That still sticks with me. Back then, I didn't understand the importance of it, but it resonates with me because it shows that the fight does not end. You will see in all aspects, all avenues of your life. No matter how much we try to be closer as a community, as a group of people, those inequalities are always going to be there. And there's always going to be something that you're gonna have to step over and fight because you can't change everybody's mind in one night, but you can change people's minds over time, and that's why it resonates with me, because [Martin Luther King, Jr.] was a big name for the equality for all people. And my generation, we still do that same fight. That fight still exists and still needs warriors. That's how it resonates with me."
"King stood for kindness, equality and love, and that's what we try to do at Montessori, is show how people all work together, that we can do great things. And through the Montessori education, kids are taught that they work together. These lessons are very important these days because there is such a divisive split in a lot of communities, and we really all need to work together no matter who you are, race, creed, gender, whatever. We need to work together to become better as individuals for our kids.
"My daughter asked to be here today. She came home, she had learned about Martin Luther King, and she talked to us about it, and she's like We need to do something. And we remembered the parade. She's like, I wanna go walk. And she's 7. So she really wants to do that because we try to teach her kindness and dignity and humility and supporting each other."
" What brings me out on this cold day? Because Martin Luther King walked in the cold for the things that were very important to him — justice and equality. And I think even more, it's more needed now. We’ve had a little setback. I don’t agree with what this person that’s in office is doing … I would love to see this country change from just being Republican and Democrat to doing the right things to help each other."
" This is probably the only national holiday that has been transformed into a day of action. This is a day that our community can come together and show our civic engagements. We can show action in our communities by engaging with one another, showing how we can unify as a community and be able to show not just our country, but the world, what it looks like when we all come together for one purpose. And that's to serve our community, to serve our country."
"One of the key points of [Martin Luther King, Jr.'s] message was love, and our world seems to have gotten away from the love of everyone. So pushing that back and making sure we push the message of love, hope for everyone is so important. We went back a little bit. But you know, I believe we are the people that can help to make sure this message continues. Even when we fallen short — you know, we've all fallen short — but we have that voice, we have an opportunity to still speak up and make sure this message is heard."
"This shows how Ocoee can come together in unity with all of its citizens, brave the winter elements and come out here and march in [Martin Luther King, Jr.'s] honor. It's a very special day. I don't know how many years we've been doing this, but I've been out here ever since I became a commissioner. I wouldn't miss it for the world. It's a good show of unity.”
“To me this represents freedom. We’re excited to be here. We’re excited to share this event with our community. Every year is better than the year before.”
"We've been walking [in the parade] for the last couple of years, and it's mainly about what Martin Luther King stands for and his legacy: unity, love, freedom.
"We also represent our Jamaican culture as well. Many don't know Dr. King loved to come to Jamaica, and he felt like this was his home. So that's one of the things that we do. We just wanna show love within the community.
" It's important for us to show unity and also not fear. Know your rights. Know everything that goes along with that if anything happens but not to a point where we feel like we're a prisoner of our home. When the community comes together and stand amongst one another it's so important. So I just want to stress that people are dealing with a lot of depression because of what's on the news and what's going on. But just keep living. And again, just be safe. Educate yourself. Know your rights."
