LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – The MLK Center was filled with residents all day on Monday to honor the life of Martin Luther King Jr and what he did for our country.

On Martin Luther King Day, the MLK center kicked off their festivities with the raising of the flag, followed by a prayer breakfast, and then activities for the youth to show off their talents.

“This program going on for 32 years and still being very attentive means that we’re doing something right,” said Lafayette Fire Chief and MLK Committee Member Robert Benoit, “That the community is doing something right that we’re listening to the community and we’re making sure that we bring educational programs to educate everyone, not just one group of people but everyone in the entire city.”

For 32 years Lafayette community members have come together at the MLK center to commemorate a man who brought the country together.

2017 MLK Queen Aliko LeBlanc knows that this is the dream Dr. King had fought for.

“Today is just about community involvement, everyone coming together, that’s just exactly what MLK wanted,” said LeBlanc, “He wanted all people of all color just to come together just celebrating what he did for the country as a whole, uniting peoples as one.”

And if it weren’t for knowing the past, LeBlanc admits we wouldn’t be headed to a brighter future.

“It’s all about history,” said LeBlanc, “We have to know our history in order to be able to avoid the mistakes so that we can make it better for our community in the future.”