A friend drove Martha Thomas of Newberry to the departure spot for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day march on College Street Monday morning, but by the time Thomas arrived at Bethlehem Baptist, the doors were locked and no marchers were in view.

So Thomas caught another ride, and after spotting the group, jogged to catch up as the singing assembly neared Miller Chapel A.M.E. Church where Newberry’s MLK celebration would begin.

Thomas says King ushered in the freedom blacks now enjoy, like voting, and desegregated restrooms and a choice to sit anywhere on a bus.

She has been a part of every Martin Luther King Jr. parade since Newberry began having one in 2002 and didn’t want to miss this year’s event.

“Without him, we’d still be in the same place—struggling,” she said of the slain leader. “He died to make us free and give us rights.”

Like Thomas, The Rev. Eldred Haynes also didn’t walk the 1.6 mile route from Bethlehem Baptist, but he was in Miller Chapel in plenty of time before the ceremony began.

Growing up in segregation, Haynes says King’s work for civil rights brought him change for the better, and that the day honoring King was important.

King’s push for equality allowed Haynes to attend Spartanburg Methodist College, which then positioned him in 1981 to be the first black licensed optician in the state, he says.

“After Dr. King became active in civil rights, he made a way for me to be allowed to go to Spartanburg Methodist College,” said Haynes. “It’s all because of the doors he opened for us.”

“I love what he did for us as a people,” he said.

Leaders in the multi-denomination MLK service also mentioned doors King opened, noting the resulting election of President Barack Obama.

“First of all, I thank God that he didn’t quit,” said Rev. Nura Ray Matthews of King.

If King had quit, “we probably wouldn’t have an African-American president,” said Matthews amid the audience’s growing applause.

The event was educational for youth, says Pauline Ellison, and strengthens King’s vision of people living “equal to each other, regardless of the color of their skin,” she said, after helping find seats for latecomers in the at-capacity crowd.

“It’s good for young people to know about Martin Luther King and keep the dream alive,” she says.