On Monday, Odessans celebrated the life of Martin Luther King Jr. with an annual march put on by the Black Cultural Council of Odessa.
The march began on Dixie Blvd and ran along Murphy Street before concluding at the Woodson Center.
Monday was the culmination of a three-day celebration.
The weekend celebration began on Saturday with a basketball tournament at the Woodson Boys and Girls Club then continued on Sunday with a Gospel Celebration at Odessa First Methodist Church.
On Monday, the annual King Brunch took place in the morning at the Woodson Community Center before the Freedom March took place.
Monday’s events concluded with a vigil put on by the Odessa Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority which also took place at the Woodson Community Center after the march.
Sunday’s Gospel Celebration included guest speaker Reverend Reginald Reid from Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Shreveport, La.
The guest speaker for Monday’s brunch was former Odessa City Councilwoman Mari Willis.
“We’ve had a great turnout this weekend,” Black Cultural Council of Odessa President Jo Ann Davenport said. “We’ve had great attendance. Saturday, we had the basketball tournament. We had a great attendance there. it was a very diverse attendance. Sunday, we had the gospel celebration which was a huge success. We had a great speaker. This morning, we had the brunch and I think we had more people than we’ve ever had at our brunch. We had former councilwoman Mari Willis. She had some great things to say. … this weekend has been a big success. As an organization, I would say mission accomplished. Our job was to have a day of service and to unify our community. Our community came together, the way we should.”
For years, the Black Cultural Council of Odessa has put on the MLK celebrations and Davenport said this year’s events were a success.
“It’s very important for us to be able to do this for Odessa,” Davenport said. “We have people who have lost their lives for this cause. We want to keep moving forward and make progress. We get weary along the way. We might think that nobody is listening or nobody cares but there’s a gospel here that says if we can just help one person, then our living won’t be in vain and that’s the way our organization works. If we can make a little difference in the community, then it was worth it.”
Citizens from all over the community took part in the parade including Permian’s football team.
Odessa alumnae chapter of Delta sigma theta sorority President Shelia Stevenson talked about the importance of this year’s MLK celebration.
“It’s important for us as an organization to make sure our community is aware of martin Luther King Jr’s birthday. He stood for freedom and it’s important that our community learns how to work together to cherish that dream,” Stevenson said. “His dream is powerful and we would like to make sure people understand that dream. We want to make sure our young people are successful and that they’re ready to become lifelong learners and that they are ready to get an education and to dream for the best. Don’t let anyone stand in their way of accomplishing everything they should.”
