OCOEE, Fla. — Hundreds of people gathered in Ocoee for the city’s 17th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Unity Parade and Celebration.
▶ WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS
Families, elected officials, and community groups all attended the celebration, including Orange County Sheriff John Mina, State Attorney Monique Worrell, and Ocoee’s first Black City Council member George Oliver III.
The parade brought together different generations for conversations on the importance of Dr. King’s civil rights contributions.
Read: Martin Luther King Jr. Day: What is open, closed
Longtime Ocoee resident Carmen Isom told Channel 9 the parade carries extra importance in the city since just 40 years before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched for civil rights, dozens of black people were killed in the Ocoee Massacre, one of the largest incidents of voting day violence in the U.S.
“We remember back in Ocoee how things used to be. Segregation all that. Now it’s not that way. And it’s because of him that started this,” said Isom.
Read: The long struggle to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
