KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Peggy Rivers sometimes gets emotional when she thinks about how she grew up.

“I can’t help it what my skin is," Rivers said. "You can’t help it what color your skin is but we all hurt the same,” Rivers explained. “When we cut each other we all bleed the same.”

Rivers was born and raised in rural Mississippi. She graduated from Marion Central High School in Columbia back in 1960. Rivers remembers the struggle of growing up in a time filled with racial issues. 

She recalls having to sit in the back of the bus, despite there being ample space in the front.

Rivers is the same age as Emmett Till, whose story she will never forget. A 14-year-old African American child who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman.

“I came to Florida in 1960. I still had to go to the back to get a hamburger, so life is what it is,” Rivers said.  

She thanks Dr. King for the work he began, work she said continues today. This past weekend Rivers organized St. Luke Missionary Baptist’s involvement in the MLK Unity Celebration Parade in Kissimmee. She said the theme this year was, “Peace begins with us.” 

Rivers is an avid member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Osceola County, working to recruit members because she wants to carry on Dr. Kings’ message.  

“It’s really a passion that I have every year to do exactly what I can to help us remember Dr. King,” Rivers said. She feels it is society’s duty to teach the younger generation about Dr. King’s legacy.

“They need to know what he stood for, everything that he stood for,” Rivers added.