Roughly 300 people marched more than a mile down Main Street in Daphne on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, taking part in Baldwin County’s 29th annual celebration honoring the civil rights leader’s legacy. The procession stretched from Daphne City Hall to the Civic Center, where an afternoon program brought together elected officials, church groups and families from across the county.
Daphne City Council President Tommie Conaway, who grew up in Montgomery and marched there as a child during the Civil Rights Movement, joined the walk and reflected on how far the observance has come since those early demonstrations. She said the purpose of the Baldwin County event, held alongside similar marches that day in Mobile and Loxley, was to keep King’s message of equality and service alive for new generations.
Four young boys from Bay Minette, Fairhope and Daphne led the procession, carrying a banner marking the Baldwin County celebration, while marchers sang civil rights-era songs including “This Little Light of Mine” and “We Shall Overcome.” Longtime participants said the annual walk has become a family tradition. One woman from Foley, marking her ninth year marching with her church, said the event exists mainly to teach younger generations about the past and inspire them toward the future.
The afternoon program featured a mix of youth performances and reflections from local leaders. A young Daphne girl recited an original poem about self-love before delivering a passage often associated with Nelson Mandela’s inaugural address, drawing a warm response from the crowd of roughly 200 gathered for the program. Bay Minette City Councilman Chris Norman served as guest speaker, tracing King’s path from his pastorship at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery through the Montgomery bus boycott and the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, before reminding the audience that King’s life of service ended at just 39 years old.
Foley City Councilman Vera Quaites, who emceed the program, challenged attendees to look beyond the ceremony itself and find ways to serve their neighbors year-round. Willie Williams, president of the Baldwin County Martin Luther King Celebration Committee that has organized the march for nearly three decades, said he’s often asked why the community continues to march each year. His answer, he said, is rooted in remembering the sacrifices of those who came before, people who could not vote or eat at the same restaurants as their neighbors, so that later generations could enjoy freedoms many now take for granted.
This year’s celebration carried the theme of unity drawn from a biblical passage, and organizers closed the event with a challenge for participants to bring friends and family to next year’s celebration in Bay Minette, continuing a tradition that has become a fixture of Baldwin County’s civic calendar each January.