The march was only a five short blocks, but the message was a strong one: peace in Cuba.
Tens of thousands of people packed the narrow streets of Little Havana, led by Miami's queen Gloria Estefan, to show support for a Cuban activist group that was recently attacked by Cuban security forces during a peaceful march in Havana.
The event created a white out as nearly everyone in attendance wore white from head to toe during the silent march down Calle Ocho.
"Freedom is the right of every human being," Estefan said as she addressed the large group at the end of the march. "Ladies in White, we walk with you."
Las Damas de Blanco, or the Ladies in White, is a group of wives and mothers whose relatives are in prison for opposing Fidel Castro's government. On March 17, the Ladies in White were holding their annual walk in remembrance of their jailed relatives when they were attacked by Cuban police, dragged into buses and hauled away.
The images from the incident sparked Estefan into action. In two days she announced the march and the word spread like wildfire. Some predicted 200,000 freedom supporters would show up and the white out in the streets of Little Havana just before the start of the march wouldn't prove them wrong.
Thousands amassed at the starting point of the march, which will begin at Beacom Blvd. between 7th and 8th Streets and go from 22nd to 27th Avenues.
Estefan marched through the crowd holding up a picture of the Ladies in White and a white flower, flanked by husband Emilio Estefan and Miami Commissioner Pepe Diaz. Other local celebrities in the crowd included rapper Pitbull and singers Willy Chirino
and Luis Fonsi.
"Cubans and non-Cubans alike that live in liberty need to take the opportunity at this moment in history to come together and show them that we care," Estefan said at a press conference, "We are all united in the love and the need for a free Cuba and freedom for the Cuban people that are enslaved right now on the island."
