EVERETT — For Aaron Gaines, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not a day off — it’s a day on.

“I was around, I was there. Segregated classrooms, segregated communities,” said Aaron Gaines, who was born in Mississippi in 1959. “I want my kids, my grandchildren to know it’s a reality.”

So on Monday, along with about a hundred attendees, he pushed his grandkid’s stroller about a mile from Everett Memorial Stadium to the Carl Gipson Center, in 25-degree weather, in the march honoring the civil rights icon.

King’s message of nonviolent resistance culminated in the March on Washington D.C. in 1963, where he delivered his indelible “I Have a Dream ” speech. King, a Baptist minister, was assassinated in April 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. His birthday became a national holiday in 1983.

“It’s not just about having a day. It’s about your actions on the day, on the week, on the year,” Aaron Gaines said.

His wife Lisa Gaines interjected: “You gotta take action!”

As a sixth grade teacher in Lynnwood and a pastor at the Faith Tabernacle Fellowship, Aaron Gaines had been busy organizing a series of church events about Black history.

Before the march, Ja’Qyrie Wheeler, 13, sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often referred to as the Black national anthem.

Wheeler was excited — but a little nervous — to sing, even though she had done it last year, too.

“My peers are just excited about a day off school. But for me, I’m using this day to educate some people, learn some new things I didn’t know,” she said. “Just try to continue to dream.”

For others, today was their first march. Towna Oliphant came as a volunteer. She found out about the march on the Volunteers of America website.

“I saw this, I’m like ‘Wow. Absolutely. I’m in,’” she said.

Many families attended. Kathy Purviance-Snow, a civics teacher at Snohomish High School, attended the march with her granddaughter Isla. It was Purviance-Snow’s first march since COVID and the first of Isla’s life.

Purviance-Snow just finished teaching a unit about the judicial branch and civil rights.

To keep moving forward, she feels people need to listen.

“We need to remember that when people of color are saying that they’re being discriminated against, the people in the majority need to listen,” Purviance-Snow said. “It’s not that people of color are wanting more than what they’re owed, they’re wanting the promise that was given to them.”

Aaron and Lisa Gaines said they still face racism in Snohomish County.

“We walk a lot, that’s one of our passions. We’ve had people yell things out the window or cross the street,” said Lisa Gaines. “We always think the same thing. If they knew us, if they knew us just as people, not what their assumptions are — that’s why we’re here.”

AJ Soto, executive administrator of the Snohomish County Black Heritage Committee, said fighting racism isn’t a zero-sum game.

“We really want to get to the point where we’re building a love community, a beloved community,” he said.

To Soto, the march wasn’t a commemoration, but a continuation.

“We want to keep that good work going,” he said. “We want to keep building.”

The heritage committee’s president, DanVo’nique Bletson-Reed, was grateful for the turnout. Bletson-Reed has been part of the celebration since she was a kid, when her dad was the organization’s president.

“This is just the beginning. As long as I’m alive, I will continue to do my part to keep Dr. King’s dream alive,” Bletson-Reed said. “It’s a way to let the city of Everett know this is not a day off. It’s a day on.”

Aina de Lapparent Alvarez: 425-339-3449; aina.delapparentalvarez@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @Ainadla.