‘The people’s parade’: How a signature South Carolina event in York County honors MLK

The longest-running, continuous Martin Luther King Jr. parade in South Carolina will line up at North Congress and East Madison streets in York on Saturday. It’s part of the area’s MLK Day list of events that keeps growing with each passing year.

Parades, prayer breakfasts and programs across the Rock Hill region begin this weekend. Yet excitement may be highest where it all began: the Western York County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hosts the 43rd annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade.

“It’s the people’s parade,” said branch vice president Dontavius Williams. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the public to be able to come out and celebrate Dr. King.”

The York event isn’t just history. A post-parade 5 p.m. gospel concert at New Home AME Zion Church is new this year.

A national voter registration drive will kick off at the York event, too. South Carolina has presidential primary votes in February for both major parties.

Part of a street in this York County town will be named to honor Dr. Martin Luther King

The parade begins at 1 p.m. It ends at Jefferson Field on Pinckney Street, where a field of food vendors will set up alongside community group tables and tents. Information will be available on healthcare, voter registration and other public resources.

Williams said the local NAACP branch is a nonpartisan group but information on how to vote will be prominent in a presidential election year.

The parade will include the South Carolina State University marching band, dance groups and other entertainers. Last year there were more than 100 parade entries, an all-time high.

“The community will come out to support the community,” Williams said of the parade’s popularity. “You can’t have community without unity.”

The parade started in 1981, only 13 years after the civil rights icon’s assassination and two years before a federal holiday was created to honor King.

It held onto that continuously running title through seven presidential administrations, economic booms, recessions. The parade even survived COVID, when organizers began the “people’s parade” moniker and asked community members to decorate their cars and drive through the parade when social distancing kept people apart.

Williams attributes the popularity of the event both to a unified community, and to the work King did that’s worth celebrating.

“This is not the Black parade of York County,” Williams said. “This is the MLK Jr. parade. There was only one Dr. Martin Luther King who did the work that he did.”

Rock Hill, Fort Mill area MLK events

York isn’t alone in celebrating King’s legacy. Here’s a list of other ways to celebrate this weekend. For breakfast events, visit the provided links for ticket information.

▪ Rock Hill hosts an Interfaith Prayer Breakfast each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Community awards are given along with music and other performances. An online listing for the 8:30 a.m. Jan. 15 event this year notes it’s already sold out.

▪ Fort Mill hosts an annual MLK Call to Service event. It’s based each year on different volunteer acts of service and coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Town Hall at 200 Tom Hall St. will be a drop-off site Jan. 15 where anyone can bring items to assist seven nonprofits that serve children, the elderly, the homeless and others. Needed items range from binders to baby wipes to breakfast foods, along with gift cards. A full list of nonprofits and needs lists is available online at fortmillsc.gov.

▪ York has a Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Breakfast at 8 a.m. on Jan. 12. Liberty Church at 410 Blessed Hope Road will host. Tickets are $20. Music, poetry and a guest speaker are included in the 13th annual event.

▪ The United Men’s Club of Clover has its fourth annual MLK Prayer Breakfast at 10 a.m. on Jan. 15. First United Methodist Church in Clover will host. Clover High School culinary arts students will cater and community awards will be presented. Guests should bring a book for K-5 students featuring a character or author of color, or stories that promote information on cultures and traditions.

▪ Lancaster will have the “It Starts With Me” parade at 3 p.m. Jan. 13. The route runs along Main and Springs streets, ending at Williams Street. A ceremony will follow the parade at Hope on the Hill at 612 E. Meeting St. A “Moving the Dream Forward” community celebration follows at 3 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Lancaster Cultural Arts Center, 307 W. Gay St. This year the city presents its Dreamer Award to retiredpolice chief Harlean Carter. The inaugural award went to former educator and county council member Polly Jackson last year as part of a month-long recognition in February of accomplished Black residents who contributed to the city.

▪ Chester has its 32nd annual MLK Parade from 3 to 5 p.m. on Jan. 14. Lineup starts at the S.L. Finley Recreation Center on Caldwell Street. The Chester County MLK Celebration Committee puts on the parade. That group formed in 1992 to celebrate King’s life and legacy.

▪ The 31st annual MLK Jr. Music Festival in Chester, sometimes called the MLK Jr. Blues Festival, runs Jan. 13-15. Dozens of musical performances and recitations of King speeches are on the lineup. Carolina Hall at 119 College St. in Chester will host.

▪ Winthrop University hosts its annual week of service projects to honor King. On campus or service agency projects run Jan. 13-19. A Jan. 10 reflection lunch will gather students and York County service organizations. A Jan. 16 vigil will be held at Dina’s Place in the DiGiorgio Campus Center.