BALTIMORE — A big change is coming to Baltimore in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Mayor Catherine Pugh says instead of a parade, there should be a focus on a day of service.
"The mayor wants to take away a staple of this city. This administration is taking away everything but crime," said local Hassan Giordano.
Giordano said the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade is something he's enjoyed year after year with his sons. Regional marching bands, color guards, steppers, equestrian units, dance squads and floats have made their way down Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard in years past to honor the civil rights leader. Giordano said it's become a city tradition and he doesn't want to see it go.
"We already have a day of service. It was already there. It's not new (and) at the end of the day, we have 300-plus homicides in this city. We need something like this (the parade) to bring pride back into the City of Baltimore.
Pugh said she's replacing the parade with a day of service and a battle of the bands at Morgan State University. The bands that would usually participate in the parade would be a part of the battle of the bands where a drummer for justice would be chosen.
Pugh said she is asking people to sign up for community projects around the city. Those projects would be followed by the battle of bands and other entertainment.
A Facebook event has been created to hold a rally to save the parade.
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