DENVER — Dr. Vern L. Howard looked forward to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.
Howard is the chairman of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission. Thirty four years ago, the commission helped bring the MLK Day Marade to Denver.
“Each year I get excited," Howard said on Sunday. "I’ve been doing this for 42 years because we were marching before it was a marade and I have been doing it every year we've had a marade."
Each year, Denver's MLK Jr. Marade crowd size fluctuates, but Howard says they are expecting tens of thousands of marchers to show up on Monday morning.
The commission also handed out food donations and hosted a job fair in Civic Center Park for people in need, including furloughed federal employees.
During the Marade, marchers held signs, many of them touting tolerance and equality. Notably, both the Denver Democratic and Republican parties marched in the parade, showing how universal Dr. King's message was.
Former Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) and U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) kicked off the event with speeches.
Images from the 2019 Denver Marade
For more information, visit the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission website.
