Drums echoed down Harbor Drive on Sunday as San Diegans lined the street to honor the life and legacy of one of history’s most significant civil rights leaders at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. The event blended celebration with pointed reminders about unfinished work on racial justice, economic equity, and voting rights.
Interspersed between marching bands and drill teams, community organizations carried signs with quotes from King. “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman,” read a banner carried by members of Rady Children’s Hospital’s Black/African American Equity, Advancement and Empowerment team. For its banner, San Diego Veterans for Peace chose: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”
The parade started at 11 a.m. near the County Administration Center. Marching bands, youth groups, elected officials, and community organizations made their way along the 1-mile waterfront route.
James Reynolds stood near the parade’s grandstand wearing a Chargers jersey. He said he’s attended the annual parade for at least 30 years. “It’s the thing to do,” he said, adding that he’d never seen so many participants.
This year’s parade featured marchers from about 80 organizations, said Johnnie Welborne, president of the Zeta Sigma Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, King’s fraternity while a doctoral student at Boston University, which organized the event along with the San Diego Alpha Foundation.
The day kicked off with a 5K run at 9 a.m. that drew nearly 1,000 runners, Welborne said. Many of the runners stayed on to watch the parade.
Mark Jones and Julia Cox participated in the run with their children, Hudson and Mara. Both kids attend Barnard Elementary School, which had encouraged its students to take part in the 5K. Cox said the parade offered a chance for her children to learn about an important historical figure.
“I want her to be able to experience being around people who look like her,” she said, nodding to Mara.
Asked about the wide range of parade participants, including civic, education, and social justice groups, Welborne said that diversity is tied directly to King’s legacy.
“When we’re talking about Martin Luther King and what his mission and goals were, a lot of the groups that came out share those same aims and beliefs,” he said.
That sense of purpose, Welborne said, is what distinguishes the event from other parades.
“There’s a mission behind why we’re marching and a reason behind why we’re marching,” he added.
Many people wore T-shirts that paid homage to King and other Black leaders. Kevin McCoy, who was standing near the parade’s start, sported a sweatshirt that featured mugshots of Black civil rights leaders like King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Huey Newton. His fiancée, a San Diego firefighter who was marching in the parade, gave it to him for Christmas, he said.
His fiancée’s mother, Valerie White, was also wearing a sweatshirt from her daughter. Hers featured images of Black women leaders. White said she wears the sweatshirt often to her exercise class and to church.
“Trying to represent,” she said, smiling.
White said she attends the parade every year.
“It’s so inspiring to acknowledge loved ones who’ve passed and youth still to come who’ll walk in peace’s path, thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr.,” she said.
McCoy said King’s lessons about nonviolence are more important now than ever.
“The way he protested is the way it should be done today,” he said. “Chaos is being brought on people in the U.S. It’s sad, very very sad.”
Darren Brewer, who let out a whoop when the parade’s emcee mentioned Alpha Phi Alpha, said he was a member of the fraternity at the University of Missouri and agreed that King’s legacy is as important now as it ever was. He said he worries, though, that King is often viewed as a political figure, when he sees him instead as a humanitarian whose message transcends politics.
“The most important values in life are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people across all races, creeds and religions,” he said.
Welborne agreed that current events nationally reinforce the parade’s message.
“The overall theme is understanding that we still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “We can’t just sit back and rest on the work that past generations have done and say that our job is done.”
He added, “You turn on the news and you see that there are still reasons to march and still reasons to protest and make sure our voices are heard.”
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/01/18/still-reasons-to-march-san-diegans-gather-for-martin-luther-king-jr-day-parade/