Throngs of crowds lined 1st Avenue South on Monday to cheer on the dozens of bands, community organizations, and elected officials who participated in the 39th Annual MLK Parade in downtown St. Petersburg.
Hosted by the City of St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival Inc. the parade in honor of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stands as one of the longest-running and largest tributes in the southeastern U.S.
The parade started in 1985 to honor King’s legacy to bring the community together to remember him and his contributions to civil rights for Black Americans.
Parade highlights included floats, local high school marching bands and cultural performances that filled the streets. Tuskegee University and Alabama A&M University had exclusive performances that were special to this year’s parade.
Another special part of this year’s parade was an appearance by the Wendell Scott Foundation which brought a historic race car honoring Scott, the first African American NASCAR driver and team owner to win at the highest level in the sport. Scott was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015. He died in 1990.
This was the second year that eighth-grader Zaniya Jenkins walked in the parade representing the Gladden Park recreation center.
When asked about how she believes the parade benefits the St. Pete community she stated, “I feel like it brings us together as a community and it empowers us.
