Martin Luther King Jr anniversary: Crowds gather in Memphis for events to honour rights' leader's legacy - as it happened
As the world marks the milestone, attention turns to the ongoing disparity between white and black Americans in modern society
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Admirers gathered in Memphis to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr‘s final speech in Memphis 50 years ago.
The commemoration mirrored events half a century ago, when an enthusiastic crowd roused Dr King from his bed at the Lorraine Motel for an unplanned appearance, when he delivered his famous “Mountaintop” speech without notes.
Bernice King, his daughter, addressed the audience and called on her older brother, Martin Luther King III, to join her at the pulpit.
She discussed the difficulty of publicly mourning their father, a man who was hated during his lifetime but is now celebrated around the world.
“It’s important to see two of the children who lost their daddy 50 years ago to an assassin’s bullet,” said Ms King, now 55.
“But we kept going. Keep all of us in prayer as we continue the grieving process for a parent that we’ve had yet to bury.”
As the world marked the 50th anniversary of Dr King’s murder, the milestone coincided with a resurgence of white supremacy, the continued shootings of unarmed black men, and a parade of discouraging statistics on the lack of progress among black Americans on issues from housing to education to wealth.
But rather than despair, the resounding message was one of resilience, resolve, and a renewed commitment to Dr King’s legacy and unfinished work.
Fifty years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the civil rights leader's family and admirers will mark the anniversary of his death with marches, speeches and quiet reflection on Wednesday.
The commemorations stretch from his hometown of Atlanta to Memphis, where he died, and points beyond. Among the first events is a march led by the same sanitation workers union whose low pay King had come to protest when he was shot. Another event will kick off about the same time in Atlanta, where King's daughter the Rev. Bernice A. King is moderating an awards ceremony in his honor.
The Memphis events are scheduled to feature King's contemporaries, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, along with celebrities such as the rapper Common. In the evening, the Atlanta events culminate with a bell-ringing and wreath-laying at his crypt to mark the moment when he was gunned down on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. He was 39.
People attend a silent march and rally on the National Mall to mark the 50th anniversary in Washington DC (Reuters)
Dr King's youngest daughter tweeted about how best to carry on her father's legacy, urging supporters to focus on education, direct action, and voting, among other things.
Donna Brazile, a political strategist and former chair of the Democratic National Committee, wrote a column for The Hill highlighting Dr King's fight for economic justice – a fight she says is far from over.
"Today, after 50 years of struggle, the problems Dr. King was fighting are still with us, in many ways worse than before," she wrote. "But we need to take that, not as a discouragement, but as a challenge. As Dr. King said, 'I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars'."
The net worth of the median black family in 2016 was still just 10 per cent of that of the median white family, according to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute.
Dr King’s niece, Alveda King, commemorated the anniversary of her uncle’s death with an appearance on Fox and Friends – a favourite TV programme of President Donald Trump.
“I believe if my uncle were here today, he would pray for the president – pray with the president, if he had an opportunity – and pray for this great nation,” Ms King said.
“If we work together, we won’t perish,” she added.
Mr Trump issued a proclamation on the anniversary, but has yet to speak or tweet about it.
Former president Barack Obama and Representative John Lewis – a civil rights leader who marched with Dr King – held a roundtable with students at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School to mark the anniversary.
In a video of the event released Wednesday, Mr Obama reminded students that the fight for equality is not always easy or popular, but always necessary.
“When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something, to say something,” Mr Lewis added. “Dr King inspired us to do just that.”
Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a mass shooting survivor, tweeted about the anniversary, connecting it to the national conversation on gun violence in the wake of a Florida school shooting.
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