DAYTONA BEACH
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 1, NO. 17
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TAKING THE DREAM TO THE STREETS Churches, NAACP and schools come together.
Daytona Beach International Airport passenger traffic reached record high in 2025. PAGE 3B INSIDE CLOSING DOORS
Daytona Beach’s Brickyard Lounge to close Jan. 25 PAGE 3B
LOOP ADVOCATES
ReGrow Volusia, ReGrow the Loop announce schedule of environmental education events. PAGE 4A
ARBOR DAY
Friends of the Tomoka Basin State Parks plant new native tree on Florida Arbor Day. PAGE 2B
WEIGHTLIFTING
Matanzas girls weightlifting celebrates Senior Night with double win over Seabreeze. PAGE 8B
INDEX
Business..................... PAGE 3B Calendar..................... PAGE 2B Cops Corner................PAGE 2A Crossword.................. PAGE 2C Letters........................ PAGE 8A McMillan..................... PAGE 8A Public Notices............ PAGE 5C Sports..........................PAGE 7B Tributes ...................... PAGE 4C Real Estate................. PAGE 6B
Pastor Derrick Harris of Masters Domain Church of God in Christ, Daytona Beach Black Clergy Alliance President Rev. Jermaine Fuller, and Father Philip Egitto of Our Lady of Lourdes lead the Martin Luther King Jr. Day march. Photos by Sierra Williams
DAYTONA YOUTH RECEIVE MLK SCHOLARSHIPS
SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
Daytona Beach residents came out to march in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 19 despite the cold weather. The march began at the Charles W. Cherry multicultural center on George W. Engram Boulevard, and participants walked along Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard to M.L.K. Boulevard and back. Organized by the Daytona Beach chapter of Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration for Florida Inc., the event included participants from the Daytona Beach Clergy Alliance, the Daytona Beach NAACP, the Divine Nine, Volusia County Schools, Lourdes Academy, Sunchaser Motorcycle Club and more. The march was followed by a worship ceremony celebrating King at the Allen Chapel AME Church, where leaders of local organiza-
Daytona Beach residents and Bethune-Cookman University students at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day march.
tions and churches urged the public to carry on King’s dream and work. Cynthia Slater, president of the Daytona Beach chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said King’s campaigns ultimately led to the passage of the Civil rights, Voting Rights and the Fair Housing Act. “[King] reminded the divided
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Tyelor Waters and Jermaine Merriweather, members of the Black Gentleman’s Society,
nation that we need one another and that we are stronger when we march forward together,” Slater said. “He said we cannot walk alone.” Now, she said, King’s words have renewed meaning, with voting rights once again under attack. “I challenge all of you to join us in our campaign to protect the rights of black, brown and marginalized citizens, voting rights, free speech, the right to assemble, the right to travel, the right to love one another, and all other rights that are given to us under the Constitution are under attack,” she said. “We cannot do it alone.” To keep King’s dream alive “means refusing to accept hate as normal, refusing to let division define us, and refusing to stay silent in the face of injustice,” according to a statement from MLK Daytona Beach, the local chapter of Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration for Florida. Progress has been made,
Nine students from local schools — including four Mainland High School and two Seabreeze High School students — received $4,000 scholarships from MLK Daytona Beach ahead of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day march. Two students at Bethune-Cookman University received $1,000 scholarships: Nathan Kirk, DME Academy Chandler Morris, Spruce Creek Donavon Parks, Mainland High Jeffery White, Seabreeze High Summer Winebrenner, The Childs Academy Maggie Harris, Seabreeze High Jayla Long, Mainland High Lyniah Brooks, Mainland High Cheylin Grant, Mainland High Makiyah Shaw, BCU Zahir Allen, BCU
but systemic inequalities still exist, the statement said. “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was not just words spoken on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial — it was a call to action, a vision of hope, and a promise of justice,” the statement read. “His dream reminds us that equality is not a gift; it is a right. And rights must be protected, defended, and extended to every generation.”
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