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Martin Luther King Jr anniversary - live updates: Crowds gather in Memphis for events to honour rights' leader's legacy | Martin Luther King Jr anniversary - live updates: Crowds gather in Memphis for events to honour rights' leader's legacy |
(35 minutes later) | |
Admirers have gathered in Memphis to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr‘s final speech in Memphis 50 years ago. | |
The commemoration mirrors 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. | 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. | 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 prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of Dr King’s murder, the milestone coincides 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. |