ARLINGTON (WBAP/KLIF News) – Five North Texas counties are uniting to celebrate and honor Doctor Martin Luther King Junior later this month and they’ve invited a special guest.
Governor Greg Abbott will serve as the Toyota North Texas Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and Celebration’s grand marshall this year.
He’ll join Tarrant County District Attorney Sherin Wilson and Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson on one of the floats.
Windsor Barbee helped plan this year’s parade in Arlington and said she wanted a high-ranking government official to be in attendance.
“When we were thinking about who do you get for that elected official that represents everyone and I said ‘well, you got to start at the top’ and that’s the governor,” she said.
The January 15th event will be the first time Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman and Collin counties will join forces to put on a parade of this magnitude.
“There’s so many cities across North Texas that don’t have an MLK parade and we thought let’s give them an opportunity to do it to,” she said.
Attendees will be treated to a number of performances including the Southern University ‘Human Jukebox’ Marching Band and Grammy award-winning artist Fred Hammond along with appearances from civil rights icon Judge L. Clifford Davis and Miss Black USA Daphne Lee.
The 0.8 mile parade starts at 10 a.m. in the Arlington Entertainment District starting on AT&T Way at Cowboys Way proceeding north and turning east on Randol Mill Road, turning north on Ballpark Way and ending on Road to Six Flags.
You can find more information about the parade and other MLK events here.
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