A year ago, Erik Johnson made the decision to take his three children to the Women’s March in Washington, D.C.

For Johnson, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Alabama, the choice to bring his children, ranging from 3 to 8 years old, was a deliberate one.

"I don’t want my kids to live in a bubble," Johnson said.

On Monday, Johnson made another decision to include his children on a nearly 3-mile march from Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School to the steps of Tuscaloosa City Hall during the annual Unity Day march. Johnson’s 3-year-old son, Karl, rode on his shoulders while his daughters, Sophia and Sarah, held their father’s hands.

"It’s good for them to see what people care about," said Johnson, who was attending his first Unity Day march.

The Johnsons were among nearly 1,000 people from across West Alabama who took part in the march, held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The march was part of a daylong celebration of the civil rights activist, with a mass rally at First African Baptist Church wrapping up the festivities Monday night.

The march has been an annual fixture in Tuscaloosa for years. The Rev. Tyshawn Gardner, pastor of Plum Grove Baptist Church and president of the Tuscaloosa chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said this year’s crowd was one of the biggest he had ever seen.

"It makes me feel hopeful that people want to unite and create change," Gardner said.

Many of the marchers felt the spirit of Unity Day should reflect King’s teachings that people from different backgrounds must join to make their communities better. William McGee, who has marched on Unity Day for 25 years, believes in that idea.

"God created all people equal," McGee said. "We need to love one another."

Like Johnson, Portia Jones wanted to make sure her 6-year-old son, Deangelo, took part in the march. In past years, Jones would work on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but she decided that this year was a good chance to not only get involved herself, but to bring her son along.

"It’s important to me to show him how to treat people and love people," Jones said as she pulled Deangelo in a wagon.

Karen and David Arnold held hands as they marched. Karen Arnold, a retired dentist, and David Arnold, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Alabama, have marched on Unity Day for three years and feel the march is something everyone should experience because it shows how different people can come together for a common purpose.

"This is about all of us working together for the common good," Karen Arnold said.

Like years past, Shedric Davis sang as he marched down the street. Wearing a shirt with King’s face on it, Davis said the march energizes him to do work in the community.

"It gives me pride in the dream," Davis said.

At the conclusion of the march, Gardner addressed the marchers with his own dream: that people from all walks of life would begin talking to one another and begin to understand one another.

"We long for a day (when) the most powerful person is not the president or the governor or the mayor, but the people they serve," Gardner said.

Reach Drew Taylor at drew.taylor@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0204.