January 16th, 2023 – 3:30 PM

Ethan Garrett – WRGA Digital News Editor & Video Reporter –

Rome’s Martin Luther King Commission hosted its annual community Freedom March in downtown Rome on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Participants met at the corner of First Avenue and marched down Broad Street together in a sign of unity. The march ended at the Rome City Hall where a noon-day program was hosted in the Rome City Auditorium. Willie Mae Samuel was honored by the Rome MLK Commission for her work in the community, and her son Minister Stephen Samuel was the featured keynote speaker.