CINCINNATI -- Dreams have a way of growing.
As part of a 35-year tradition, Cincinnatians took to the street Monday to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of freedom for all.
Several hundred people gathered at the steps of the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Some, like Stan Johnson of Bond Hill have been honoring Dr. King for years.
"To perpetuate the dream. To keep the dream alive," said Johnson.
Johnson's dream, "Freedom for all people, hope for the children."
Those thoughts aren't wasted on children like teenager Vincent Jones. "It's given us opportunities like having a black president, and being able to go to schools where blacks and whites can be together and just not being so segregated like we were. We still have a lot to go but think we can make it."
Young and old, black and white, the generations marched together to Fountain Square where King's message boomed from the Jumbotron. "To stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."
Domonique Johnson of Lincoln Heights says the future should have no boundaries.
"He wanted everyone to be united. So our heart goes out to Haiti, because we feel like, at least in Haiti, if we all gather in around here, we can help ourselves, but we can also help our neighbors," said Domonique.
Before Monday's pilgrimage began, marchers dropped off bags of clothing, and boxes of food and water to send to the earthquake victims in Haiti.
Paul Bernish of the Underground Railroad Freedom Center understood the marchers' connection to the people of Haiti. "It drives home those messages of people who say, let's put aside differences of color, and background and ethnic origin, and let's talk about what we have in common, and what we have in common is to help each other in times of disaster and need."
