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RALEIGH – Marchers from all over North Carolina participated in the third annual Historic Thousand on Jones Street March and Movement in Raleigh to remind legislators that they’re ready for change and action.

In their 100th year, members of the N.C. NAACP and other coalitions said they are taking a stand; marchers from all walks of life had their own reasons for taking part.

“It's a part of history, and to let everyone know the legacy still goes on,” Kinston resident Helen Graham said.

Graham and friend Susan Sheppard showed their love for freedom on Valentine’s Day.

“It's not just for one person or one race, it's for everyone,” Sheppard said. “This is a country of freedom, freedom of speech, and it's time for us to stand.”

The walk went from Chavis Park off Martin Luther King Boulevard to Jones Street and ended at the General Assembly in downtown Raleigh where marchers have a message for elected officials.

The marchers want legislators to look at their 14 point agenda, which includes topics on labor, voting rights, education and immigration.

“Don't budget on the backs of the poor. Let’s close these disparity gaps in our state. Let’s give our state workers the right to collect bargaining. Let’s fund education, and fund welfare, and fund wages,” Rev. William Barber, the North Carolina NAACP president, said. “Because in the middle of a crisis, you don't cut those things because that negatively impacts the economy.”

Though they believe the struggle continues, some said the state has come along way.

But for Graham, she just wants the future to be brighter for generations to come.

“Our great grandparents marched for us, so we're marching for our kids and our grandkids and our great grandkids so that they may have a better life then what we have today,” Graham said.

Since HK on J began in 2005 the march has grown every year. This year was expected to be the biggest march yet.