Dozens of participants braved the cold weather Sunday afternoon as they assembled at the gazebo in downtown Franklin and marched up Main Street to First United Methodist Church. There they joined more than a hundred participants to remember and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ahead of the national holiday on Monday.
The event is organized each year by a committee with members representing the Methodist church, Mountain Synagogue, All-Saints Episcopal Church, the Macon County Arts Council, Forward Franklin and the Macon County Democratic Party, said organizer Linda Tyler. Forward Franklin organized a service project, which collected $628 and two plastic bins filled with food to distribute to CareNet, Macon County Program for Progress and Smoky Mountain Harm Reduction.
Gerald Parks, an organizer representing the Episcopal church, said the event was held annually for around 12 years before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. After that, the event “fizzled out” before organizers revitalized the celebration in 2025. Tyler said organizers have been working since then to expand the event, bringing in new communities to organize and spread news. She said she believed around 125 people attended, up from the just over 90 that came to the 2025 celebration.
On Sunday, marchers gathered from 1 to 1:30 p.m. at the gazebo before organizer Janet Greene invited them to begin walking up Main Street to the church. A Franklin Police Department patrol vehicle lead the procession.
The service began at 2 p.m. with an introduction by Rev. Dana McKim of First United Methodist Church. Tyler led a discussion around King’s work, advocacy and impact and invited attendees to talk about what MLK Day means to them with breaks taken to showcase portions of King’s writings and speeches or sing Civil Rights Movement anthems like “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” “This Little Light of Mine” and “If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus.” The group CSquare led the congregation in song.
Jacob Bishop, a former Macon Early College civics student, shared his experiences making school field trips to Selma, Alabama, and to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of Bloody Sunday.
“It is easy to try to move on without work,” he said. “But I’d argue that the dream Dr. King had 60 years ago and the teachings of love and peace have never been needed more. It’s never needed to be remembered more, to be taught more. I ask you to protect those around you, whoever this may be. I ask you to stand with them in their hour of need and ask you to love them, love them and trust them to love you, because that’s how we remember and honor what Dr. King did for us.”
After the event, Parks said, “I would like to say I’m happy that Macon County has a community that collaborates and works on an event like MLK day. It shows Macon County is very much involved … I would hope those who did not make it for whatever reason will come out and join us next year."