WS Chronicle

Photo by Tevin Stinson

Below freezing temperatures didn’t stop dozens of citizens from coming together for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally and march held downtown earlier this week.

By Tevin Stinson

The Chronicle

Despite below freezing temperatures and wind gusts that could knock a small child off his or her feet, dozens of people came together Monday morning for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally and march. This year, the rally, put on by the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity began and ended at the M.C. Benton Convention Center.

During the rally, marchers carried signs that read, “W-S Needs Justice Now,” and others aimed toward N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper. As they made their way around the M.C. Benton Convention Center on Fifth Street, chants of “Free Kalvin Smith,” and “Black Lives Matter” echoed through the streets of downtown.

The chants of “Free Kalvin Smith” started inside the M.C. Benton Convention Center during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast Forum sponsored by The Chronicle and The Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity.

Kalvin Michael Smith is serving up to 29 years in prison for the 1995 assault of Jill Marker at the Silk Plant Forest store that left her with severe brain injuries.

Although this year’s march was shorter and colder than it has been in the past, the Rev. Alvin Carlisle, third assistant vice president of the Ministers’ Conference, seemed pleased with the turnout.

“We are happy to see so many members of the community join us for the rally,” he said. “We hope the rally and other Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities in the area continue to grow in the future.”