CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) The Clarksville Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), took to the streets of downtown Monday on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day for their 2017 Commemorative March. NAACP President Jimmie Garland said that between six and seven hundred people participated in the march.
Garland talked about the Commemorative March which he said you do in honor of someone. Some marches are for issues like civil rights, voting rights or health care. Garland said they weren’t marching for that today. This was a commemorative march honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Garland explained why the holiday is known for being a day on and not a day off. “A day on simply means it’s not a day that you take to go and do your own thing. It’s a day that you do something for somebody. So when people do get off for the holiday they come out and do something like this to commemorate Dr. King, “said Garland.
The marchers made their way from Burt Elementary School to downtown at Public Square, then past the Montgomery County Jail and back to Burt Elementary. Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan was one of the local public officials who joined in the march along with City Councilwoman Wanda Smith.