CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Over 300 people took to the streets of downtown Clarksville on a very cold Monday to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The march is usually led by the Clarksville Branch of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), but this year the local NAACP leadership decided not to lead the march because of the bitterly cold temperatures .
Still most of those who gathered at the gym inside Burt Elementary School before the march were disappointed with that decision and went ahead with the planned march of about two miles. With a chant of “We Shall Overcome”, the walkers left Burt Elementary School and walked downtown stopping briefly at Public Square and the Montgomery County Jail to pray.
Local NAACP President, Jimmie Garland said we as an organization back in the King days marched for a cause. We are marching as a symbol, this is a commemorative march. “It’s a hard decision to tell someone they need to march down the street in 10 degree weather when there is no end result of the march, except for the fact they walked two miles,” said Garland.
Video by Daynnah Carmona | ClarksvilleNow.com
Photos by Lee Erwin | ClarksvilleNow.com