As people gathered in City Park for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Marade Monday morning, Danyel Freeman of Denver, checked her phone. It read minus-4 degrees.
"I don't believe the cold is stopping anyone from coming out here today to support," she said, while paying tribute to the civil rights leader. "He just carved a lot of paths for African-American people. This march means a lot to a lot of us. It means a lot just to be here, just to be alive in 2024."
With snow falling, an estimated thousand people met at the King statue for the 40th annual event, undeterred by the frigid conditions.
The National Weather Service warned of wind chills as low as minus-18. And the cold did clearly encourage fewer and shorter speeches.
Organizers showered praise on Wilma Webb, the former Democratic state representative from Denver, who introduced and championed legislation for years to make King's birthday a state holiday, something accomplished before the federal holiday was enacted.
"We're all here because of your tenacity, because of your courage, because of your belief in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And God is here with us. I don't care if it's snowing, God is part of snow. He's here with us," Webb told the crowd. "And what we can say this morning is happy birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.!"
Webb said King would be glad "that we are carrying on his dream that all of us can live together like brothers and sisters."
King was "our prince of peace," Webb said, as she urged the gathered leaders and members in the crowd to embrace mercy and understanding. She urged the crowd to carry forward King's legacy of goodness.
"That's what he stood for. That's what we stand for. That's what we talk about. We don't want to take the low road. We want to take the high road, always, always, no matter what," she said.
Thanking those gathered on behalf of her husband, former Denver mayor Wellington Webb, the city's first Black mayor, she said he was at home after a recent surgery and could not attend "because his doctor told him he better not be here this morning."
Current Denver mayor Mike Johnston, who has made tackling the city's housing and homelessness crisis a top priority, spoke briefly about King's mountaintop speech hours before his death.
In that speech, King told the story of the Good Samaritan, Johnston said: "He will always ask the question, 'if I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?' And when we do that, Dr. King will be proud of the legacy that we leave."
As Rep. Joe Neguse spoke on behalf of the state's Congressional delegation, Sen. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper stood nearby, bundled up in winter layers.
Neguse paid tribute to the "great, late" King, thanked the crowd for braving the cold and the commission behind the event for persevering.
"Just because it's a little cold doesn't mean hate is going away. Just because it's a little cold doesn't mean prejudice is going away. Just because it's a little cold doesn't mean division is going away," Neguse said to cheers. "So we're not going away either."
Later, community leader Brother Jeff Fard took the mic to say he was told to remember the Three Bs: "brother be brief."
Fard took a moment to recognize the first people to live in Colorado. "We stand on sacred land and the land that we stand on was stewarded by our indigenous first nation people," he said. "We acknowledge them today."
With a nod to a famous line of King's, Fard signaled it was time to begin the Marade: "March at last! March at last, Thank God almighty, we are marching at last!"
Because of the frigid temperatures, organizers of the day's events pushed back the start time of the Marade, rescheduled the annual bike ride and urged families to keep young kids, seniors, pets and those with potential medical conditions to stay home. But a few youngsters did put on snow boots, parkas and hats to join in.
As the crowd started heading downtown, 10-year-old Everett Landberg carried a handmade sign reading: "Don't let Dr. King's dream go! Judge by character not by color!"
"To me, it means that we should be friends with one another and not be judgmental about each other just because of our race or skin color," he said. "And instead be kind and peaceful to one another."
Clara Wiliamson was visiting from a much less frosty Tennessee to see her daughter-in-law. "She wanted me to stay home. I said, 'no, if you can walk, I can walk.'" For her, King's message was simple: "Being free, being equal. Yeah, it's about equal opportunity," she said. "And to love everybody.
Dvaun Wells said the Marade was his first, as he stopped by a booth to pick up some free hand warmers.
"We have a long way to go. I think that we definitely have been making strides in recent years, so I think that we just got to keep pushing," Wells said. "I think it takes things like this and just coming together and realizing what his dream is and then taking those steps to live out his dream."
