The King Center commemorated one of the darkest moments in the King family’s history and American history.
Friday marks 57 years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The civil rights leader was visiting Memphis to help sanitation workers rally for better wages and safer working conditions and delivered what would become known as his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech the day before he was killed.
“He stood up for injustice, but it’s how he did it, it’s the spirit in which he did it, and we need that to fuel us in these times if we’re going to create a world where there’s fairness and equity and justice,” said King’s youngest daughter, Bernice King.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
The King Center sponsored a series of events on Friday and April 9 that celebrate King’s life and legacy.
The King Family Wreath Laying Ceremony was held at 3:30 p.m. at the gravesite, and Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church hosted the Candlelight Assassination Observance at 5 p.m.
On Wednesday, Ebenezer Baptist Church will host a silent walk of remembrance, 57 years after King’s funeral at the church on April 9, 1968.
RELATED STORIES