Dozens of people braved the cold and snow from the weekend storms for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Movement March on Monday in south Bethlehem, a march that focused on bringing people together.

The group, led by children holding flowers, sang “We Shall Overcome” as it marched from the Comfort Inn on Third Street to Martin Luther King Park on Carlton Avenue, where there is a memorial for King and his wife, Coretta Scott King. The march was one of several holiday events in the Lehigh Valley honoring King’s legacy. 

The marchers stopped at Holy Ghost Catholic Church, which is next to the park, and prayed while the flowers were placed at the memorial just before local leaders spoke to the crowd.

Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds, who has participated in the march over the last 20 years, thanked the people who attended, saying that Bethlehem residents understand King’s message of being part of a community and working together.

King’s message, he said, was about doing something right, and that people in 2026 generally don’t think they’re part of something bigger than themselves.

“Above all else, Martin Luther King’s message was that idea that to make the world a better place we need to work together,” he said. “We need to understand that progress can only come when we are working together for other people.”

The mayor said there has been some real progress, but there have been steps back in fighting racism and inequality, and that some people believe it’s not real.

“The beautiful thing about Bethlehem … you understand that we’re stronger as part of a community,” Reynolds said.

State Rep. Steve Samuelson, D-Northampton, told the group that he remembered King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, in which mentions the country’s freedom of assembly and right to protest.

“We have to make sure our country never forgets to hold the words of our founding documents in our hearts and in our lives and in the way that we live,” he said. “We have to work together.”

Frankie West, who has organized the march for the last 36 years, said it was a “beautiful thing” that a diverse group of people participated.

The march began in 1969 with just three people, and he estimated close to 100 people participated in this year’s event.

“I think it went very well,” he said.