The city of Fort Myers came together at Centennial Park to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day during a multicultural event.
It's been 52 years since Martin Luther King, Jr. made his iconic "I have a Dream" speech, which symbolizes how far our country has come.
"You have whites and blacks out here, together as one," 17-year-old Angel Escobar said.
The day-long celebration in Centennial Park was complete with food and company, commemorating the man so many, regardless of age, hail as a hero.
"We wouldn't even be here if Martin Luther King never did what he did," 11-year-old AJ Baxter said.
"Martin Luther King is my best friend because he saved me," 5-year-old Michaela said.
"I thank the Lord every day this man died for us, Martin Luther King," Danette Greene said.
Greene has been coming to the multicultural celebration for the last 15 years, and hopes Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud of where we are today, though she thinks Southwest Florida still has a long way to go.
"Some of the violence that goes on here, it's very sad that us blacks are killing each other the way they are," she said.
She said she still believes there are race issues today, and the event's co-chair Martin Byrd agreed.
"I think he would be disgusted. To be honest, I think he would be disgusted," he said.
Byrd said he's choosing to be thankful for the progress, like Escobar.
"Back in the day, there was a railroad where one side was whites and one side was blacks. Now, we're on both sides of the railroad," she said.
When 7-year-old Damariya thinks of Martin Luther King, Jr., she thinks of her best friend.
"Me and my best friend would not be best friends, because Martin Luther King, Jr. saved us, because black people wouldn't be talking to white people, and white people wouldn't be talking to black people," she said.
Event-goers all agreed one way to cut down on the violence in our neighborhoods is to keep the community coming together the way they did for this multicultural celebration.
