About 300 march in Martin Luther King Jr. parade

Jimmy Gallegos, left, and Richard Vela of Nick Griego and Sons Construction unveil a monument to Coretta Scott King on Monday at Potter Park at the beginning of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. The monument includes a photo of Coretta Scott King, but event organizers said a plaque is on its way to match an adjacent memorial to Martin Luther King Jr.

Parade patricipants march on Grand Avenue Monday morning in honor of Martin Luther King Day. The parade began with a dedication of a monument for Coretta Scott King and included stops at the Lincoln-Jackson Family Center, the Roy Walker Community Center a

The 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symbolic March and Rally held Monday morning attracted marchers of various ages and ethnicity to commemorate King's work in civil rights and equality.

The unveiling of a Coretta Scott King memorial pillar at Potter Park preceded the parade. The pillar was placed beside an existing MLK memorial plaque.

What they're saying

Bruce Pollard, 73, commander of American Legion Post 117

"It's just a great day that brings everybody together. If we could do this all the time instead of just one day we would have a great nation, black, white, Hispanic, young, old, all. These folks should get a feeling of what Dr. Martin Luther King gave his life for. There shouldn't be no room on the street. Everybody should be out here marching. This is not just a black thing. This is a national thing for everybody. I like it."

Laura DaVinci, 24, academic services coordinator for the Upward Bound program at Clovis High School. DaVinci grew up in Romania and moved to the United States 2 1/2 years ago.

"MLK day actually means a lot to me. Romania is a former communist country so we were deprived of liberty and peace a lot also. Although I haven't lived in the 1950s and 1960s when the civil rights movement was happening, we had our own hard times. I think people should understand how important liberty is and how much people have fought for it. I think the community here is pretty involved."

Brenda Hollingsworth-Marley, known as the Story Songbird Woman, a teacher and performing artist from Albuquerque. Hollingsworth-Marley did not march in the parade but delivered a performance about the lives of Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King at the MLK breakfast Saturday morning at Clovis High School.

"I thought that the Clovis MLK congregation was very progressive, very serious, very focused. I appreciated the fact that they were working so hard to share the information about the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as putting some attention on his wife Coretta Scott King. Many people have tried to overlook the wife. There's such a small percentage of African Americans in Clovis, but the fact that they are doing what they are doing is phenomenal."

Ashley Span, 50, a truck driver from Clovis and volunteer for the mentoring program at James Bickley Elementary

"This is a day of freedom. It means a lot to me. People should realize what Martin Luther King did for everybody wasn't just for blacks. It was for everyone. I love the parade. I wouldn't miss it for nothing."

Chris Hayes, 48, Detroit resident visiting family in Clovis

"I think we should take this march very seriously. This march has been going on for a long time. In Detroit, they are taking this march very seriously. I'm just glad to be here and I'm glad to see different cultures and different races here to celebrate history."

Mike Perkins, 52, an eighth-grade history teacher at Yucca Middle School

"The MLK parade gives the opportunity to show that we're all equal. This is a community get-together. We're all here enjoying each others' company and enjoying just being able to celebrate Martin Luther King. I'm here with the Yucca kids who came today just trying to support."

Shantea Anthony, 22, a restaurant hostess in Clovis

"This is a day that brought us freedom. People should understand that they have freedom to do what they want to do, go anywhere they want to go. This wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for people like Martin Luther King."

Alexis Large, 14, eighth-grade student at Marshall Middle School

"Instead of blacks and whites being separated they have more freedom to do more stuff now. The parade will hopefully get more people to understand more and see that we're all equal."

Kimyatta Williams, 11, fifth-grader at La Casita Elementary

"The MLK celebration is when Martin Luther King brings all the little white and black kids together so we can have freedom and we can have more people in our lives. I think the day should get all the people that are racist to understand that we're equal. I learned about black history by talking to my family and friends about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King and reading."

Rick Shea, 54, civil servant at Cannon Air Force Base and MLK Commission member

"MLK day means a continuing stride toward Dr. King's goals. The fight has only begun. We haven't completed anything yet. We've made great strides but we haven't completed anything. I would hope the people would gain a sense of accomplishment, a small sense of what the civil rights movement was about. I know it's kind of hard in the this kind of atmosphere to get that but hopefully they can get an understanding of what the people before them endured. I think we have good turnout. I would like to have seen more. This is not a day off; this is a day on."

Sandra Taylor-Sawyer, 50, director of the Small Business Development Center at Clovis Community College

"I think this year I have a deeper appreciation of what our forefathers went through. Just realizing that so many privileges we have today like being able to register to vote and to go anywhere that we want to eat without being put down because of the color of our skin is so important. Words just can't even express it. It's just overwhelming to me."

David Lombrana, 41, senior pastor of Legacy Life Family Church and MLK rally keynote speaker

"My father was raised in Texas and being a Hispanic he also had to ride in the back of the bus, drink from the colored only water fountain, attend a segregated school. Because it affects my family personally it's great to see that now in our generation we see much more equality. It's still not where it needs to be but there's been a considerable amount of advancement through the years. The parade is capturing the dream, not letting that dream go back to sleep, holding on to that dream and passing it on to the next generation. My desire is for all of Clovis to come and support this, let it be imparted in their heart and to capture that same dream that Dr. King had."

Unique Pollard, 21, freshman at Clovis Community College studying nursing and granddaughter of Bruce and Joyce Pollard

"There wouldn't be the diversity of people here today if it wasn't for Martin Luther King. I hope people in Clovis will appreciate Martin Luther King more and by walking they are showing that they do appreciate him. The parade was also good exercise for people who don't work out."

Joyce Pollard, president of Clovis MLK commission

"The march is symbolic of things that have been done to make things better for all of us and things that we still need to do to finalize Dr. King's dream. Dr. King emphasized a non-violent means of getting things done. In the past, the marches have been very violent. The police today were there to help us. In the past when Dr. King marched they were there to hinder them from acquiring any equal rights whatsoever. There is just a contrast between the way things were then and how things are today and how peaceful the march was today. We didn't have dogs attacking us; we didn't have police beating the people; we didn't have people screaming out all kinds of racial slurs."