“Discrimination, racism and bigotry doesn’t stop with the cold, so it’s really important to show up and express our solidarity with movements trying to eliminate those forms of oppression.”

Rebeca Zúniga said these words as she marched through the frigid cold streets of Denver Monday with her daughters. She was one of hundreds who showed up for Denver’s annual MLK Day Marade, despite falling snow and sub-zero temperatures.

The Marade, put on each year by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission and named for a combination of a parade and a march, delayed its Monday start by 30 minutes due to the frigid weather. There were also several planned speeches and events for Civic Center Park at the marade’s end that were cancelled.

Even as the snow fell and temperatures hit negative 2 degrees, Marade-ers showed up to City Park at 10 a.m., bundled head to toe, gathering near heat lamps and warming up with coffee, hot cocoa and hand warmers provided by Marade sponsors.

Luna Schneider-Zúniga, 10, Rebeca’s daughter, said it is important for her to show up despite the frigid weather.

“It’s a really important day to remember and you just have to be there to show how important civil rights are,” Zúniga said, dressed head to toe in layers of snow gear next to her younger sister, 5-year-old Sol Schneider-Zúniga, but beaming anyway.

Was it a cold Marade? Yes, Luna Zúniga said with emphasis. But it was worth it.

The year Luna Zúniga was born, MLK Day was on her birthday, she said, making the day extra special.

Colorado U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse was one of several speakers to kick off the Monday Marade, which went from City Park to Civic Center Park along Colfax Avenue.

Neguse said the struggle for freedom is far from over.

“When one in five Black families live in poverty in Colorado, we know our work is not done,” Neguse said. “When diversity, equity and inclusion are under attack like never before, we know our work is not done. When voting rights, which are sacrosanct, are under attack in every jurisdiction in this land, we know our work is not done.”

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said he didn’t care if it was 5 degrees below zero, he still came to the Marade because “the cause I believe in is bigger than me.”

Johnston’s favorite speech by King is “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” which King delivered the night before his assassination on April 4, 1968, Johnston said.

In the speech, King talked about the power of the Good Samaritan and “dangerous unselfishness,” and Johnston commended the crowd for being there and committing an unselfish act by braving the cold to celebrate King’s legacy.

“It is bigger than cold, it is bigger than division, it is bigger than hate,” Johnston said.

Wilma Webb, the former First Lady of Denver and former state representative who sponsored legislation adopting MLK Day as a state holiday, said the celebration continues to carry on MLK’s dream that everyone can live together like brothers and sisters.

Webb called it “a beautiful day,” thanking the crowd for gathering despite the weather to honor what he stood for.

“We’re not what we ought to be yet, but we’re better than what we were,” Webb said. “The present time now needs our words, needs our actions, needs us to stand up for what we really truly believe and that is a freedom for everybody, peace, equality and fulfilling the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”