San Francisco celebrates life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with annual march

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- "I know I am the dream of Dr. King, as the first African American woman to serve in San Francisco," said Mayor London Breed as she wiped away tears while delivering a speech at a MLK Day event at the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.

The event organized by the San Francisco Interfaith Council, was one of many events happening in the Bay Area for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The annual MLK Day march started at the Caltrain station on King and 4th. Some traveled on Caltrain's celebration train from San Jose. The service was free to anyone attending the march, complete with a commemorative ticket.

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Mayor Breed urged her audience to honor Dr. King's legacy by voting, taking part in the census and fighting for justice in communities that continue to struggle in San Francisco, including African-Americans.

"We are still here and we still matter and we're not going anywhere," Breed said.

This year's theme was 'Time for Justice,' a message understood even by the young ones in the crowd.

"If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be alive. My mom's black and my dad's white," said one young girl.

Museum of the African Diaspora also offered free admission and performances, including students on stilts from the Prescott Circus Theatre in Oakland.

"Part of walking on stilts, we call it higher ground, it's a metaphor for speaking for the higher self within you just like Martin Luther King," said coach Derique McGee of Prescott Circus.