Newtown 'Unity Walk' brings history to life, honors legacy of MLK

SARASOTA, Fla. - For 50 years Fredd Atkins has walked this path of Newtown.

"I’m born in 1952, so I come through the struggle," he said.

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The ‘Unity Walk’ brings awareness while honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and those who tirelessly fought for freedom during the civil rights movement.

"I think about remembering when I was a young teenager when marches and walks and the struggle of young people were really the barriers of this process because young people lead the revolution and the marches, I think about how important it is for young people to have brought us to this part when I was young, and now I’m here," shared Atkins.

Atkins participated in the desegregation of Sarasota schools. He would go on to become the city’s first black mayor.

The "Unity Walk" brings the community together, while lessons and memories are passed on to the youngest.

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"They don’t realize it, but we are creeping knowledge and experience into them so that when they grow older they remember there is something significant about this other than a holiday," said Atkins.

Pictured: Fredd Atkins

Despite a heavy rain at times, the band played and hymns were sung.

"Each time I see the walk, I see another generation coming forward. I see others who are in the present generation carrying the conversation on. It’s here. We are a part of it. It is your turn do what you are supposed to do on your watch," said Willie Shaw, a former Sarasota City Commissioner and past mayor. "It will bring us back to from which we have come, what it took to get us where we are."