MLK Day Service Calls for Nonviolence Amid Turbulent Times
The slain civil rights leader's daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said in an online church service Monday that physical violence and hateful speech are “out of control” in the aftermath of a divisive election followed by a deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol
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On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the entire nation pauses in remembrance of the Civil Rights icon. But did you know it took nearly 32 years of fighting for the day to become a federal holiday? NBCLX breaks down the events that led to a national celebration in honor of Dr. King.
Speakers at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. holiday celebration in Atlanta called Monday for a renewed dedication to nonviolence following a turbulent year in which a deadly pandemic, protests over systemic racism and a divisive election capped by an attack on the U.S. Capitol strained Americans' capacity for civility.
“This King holiday has not only come at a time of great peril and physical violence, it has also come during a time of violence in our speech — what we say and how we say it,” said the Rev. Bernice King, the slain civil rights leader's daughter. "It is frankly out of control and we are causing too much harm to one another.”
The coronavirus pandemic forced the annual King Day service at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church online during the 35th celebration of his birthday as a national holiday. His family was among a sparse group wearing masks and sitting far apart amid mostly empty pews as others delivered remarks remotely.
Bernice King said the toll of the pandemic, lingering outrage over killings of unarmed Black people and the deadly siege in Washington by supporters of President Donald Trump all underscore an urgent need to pursue what her father called “the beloved community” — a world in which conflict is solved nonviolently and compassion dictates policy.
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Pastor and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. speaks in this March 29, 1966, photograph.King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, in a killing that sent shock waves throughout American society. His killer, James Earl Ray, confessed to the shooting and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
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Dr. King seen at home with his wife Coretta and daughter Yolanda May 1956 in Montgomery, Alabama.
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American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks on the telephone after encountering a white mob protesting against the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, May 26, 1961.
Children are attacked by dogs and water cannons during a protest against segregation organized by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth in May 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Dr. King and his wife Coretta Scott King lead a black voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery.
Dr. King appears on the television news program "Face The Nation,'" April 16, 1967.
A young boy listens during a speech by Dr. King near the Montgomery, Alabama, State Capitol steps.
Dr. King at the Soviet Sector border of the Berlin Wall in Bernauer Strasse, Berlin, Germany, Sept.12, 1964. Werner Steltzer, director of the Berlin Information Center is indicating points of interest.
An unspecified photo of Dr. King.
Crowds march down the street to attend a speech by Dr. King in Chicago, Illinois, on the same day James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, three civil rights workers, were killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. King waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Dr. King speaks at Vermont Avenue Baptist Church February 1968 in Washington, D.C.
President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with civil rights leaders in the White House, including Dr. King (left) in this undated photo.
Civil rights leaders, including Dr. King, A. Phillip Randolph and Walther Reuther, hold hands as they lead a crowd of hundreds of thousands at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington, D.C., Aug. 28, 1963.
Dr. King and Malcolm X wait for a press conference on March 26, 1964.
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Dr. King preaching at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England, on Dec. 6, 1964.
Dr. King lying in state in Memphis, Tennessee, as his colleagues pay their respects to him. From right: Andrew Young, Bernard Lee and Reverend Ralph Abernathy.
A large crowd of mourners follow the casket of Dr. King through the streets of Atlanta, Georgia. Two men carry a large sign with King's face.
Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. King, and her daughter, Yolanda, sit in a car as it leaves for Dr. King's funeral in Atlanta, Georgia.
She quoted her father’s words from more than 50 years ago: "There is such a thing as being too late.”
“We still have a choice today — nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation,” Bernice King said, again reciting the words of her father. "This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos and community.”
U.S. Sen.-elect Raphael Warnock, Ebenezer's pastor, appealed for unity following his election in a runoff election Jan. 5.
“Let us stand together, let us work together,” Warnock said, calling the COVID-19 pandemic a reminder that all people are “tied together, as Dr. King said, in a single garment of destiny.”
“Because we’re dealing with a deadly airborne disease, my neighbor coughs and I’m imperiled by the cough of my neighbor,” Warnock said. "That doesn’t make my neighbor my enemy. That means that our destiny is tied together.”
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Had he lived, he would have turned 92 on his birthday last Friday.
