Acacia Park was alive with drums, singing, cheering and chanting on Monday as hundreds of people gathered for a rally celebrating the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The rally was the culmination of a series of commemorative events in downtown Colorado Springs with the theme “Mission Possible II – Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Nonviolent Way.” Leaning into the slain civil rights leader’s commitment to nonviolent protest, the Martin Luther King Legacy Preservation Society held an education panel at the Cornerstone Arts Center on Sunday, followed by a prayer breakfast at The Antlers and a Unity March from the hotel to Acacia Park on Monday.

The panel and prayer breakfast featured a direct descendant of King’s legacy. Yolanda Renee King, the sole grandchild of King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, served as a panelist and as keynote speaker for the annual breakfast.

Yolanda, 17, never met her grandparents; Martin was assassinated 1968, and Coretta passed away in 2006. But she shares their passion for social justice and advocacy, having spoken publicly in favor of nonviolence, gun safety, voting rights, and other issues.

“When people hear my last name, they often think first about its historical contributions,” she said Monday. “But for me, this work has never lived solely in the past. It lives in the present and places a demand on the future.”

In keeping with the weekend’s theme, Yolanda spoke about the power of nonviolence as an agent of social change.

 “I was raised to understand that nonviolence is not weakness, that love is not only sentimental and justice is not inevitable. It must be organized, protected and practiced,” she said. “My grandparents did not simply dream of a better world. They labored for it, they sacrificed for it and they believed that ordinary people, when united by conscience and courage, could do extraordinary things.”

Addressing the audience at Acacia Park, motivational speaker Regina Lewis echoed Yolanda King’s sentiments.

“Nonviolence is too frequently mischaracterized as passive endurance,” Lewis said. “In truth, it is a deliberate and disciplined engagement with injustice, requiring a steadfast commitment to moral integrity. It is the practical manifestation of love – love for human dignity, love for justice, and love for the peaceful and equitable future.”

Many of Monday’s revelers were seasoned attendees who have participated in the annual march for years. Others, like Colorado resident Sumet Meini and his family, were there for the first time. Meini said he and his family were drawn to the march by King’s message of peace, which transcends nations and cultures.

“I grew up in India and one of the fathers of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, he was a believer of nonviolence, and the same thing connected us to America’s message as well,” he said. “I think (the march is) amazing. It shows that we care about the community, we’ve all come together and I think that’s the best part.”

Italia Bonaparte, 13, said she attended the march to help spread King’s message of nonviolence, “and also just being able to remember Martin Luther King and keep his story alive.”

Gazette reporter Eric Young contributed to this story.