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King honored in events across nationSenate leader calls for 'new optimism' to heal racial wounds
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The United States on Monday marked its 17th Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday remembering a man who led a movement of nonviolent protest for racial equality. King Day events were scheduled nationwide including a morning memorial service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the church where King often preached. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, was quoted at the event by The Associated Press. "We commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. as a great champion of peace who warned us that war was a poor chisel for carving out a peaceful tomorrow," she said. "We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. Martin said, 'True peace is not just the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice."' (Full story) Her comments came as the United States considered military action against Iraq. The Iraqi crisis was the topic of another gathering in honor of King at a Washington-area church Monday. The group Black Voices for Peace organized the gathering, which included a speech by former presidential candidate Ralph Nader. (Full story) The holiday -- set by Congress near the date of King's birth, January 15 -- was first proposed by Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan four days after King was shot by a sniper's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. It wasn't until 1983 that Congress passed a law making the third Monday of January an official federal holiday in King's honor. The grandson of Mohandas Gandhi -- another leader who promoted nonviolent protest and the man who helped secure India's independence from Great Britain -- was scheduled to speak at a King event at the University of Michigan. The South Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People planned a march in honor of King followed by a rally. Several prominent political figures also planned to mark the day. President Bush attended a church service at the predominantly black First Baptist Church in Glanarden, Maryland. "It is fitting that we honor Martin Luther King in a church," Bush said, "because I believe, like you, that the power of his words, the clarity of his vision, the courage of his leadership, occurred because he put his faith in the almighty." "It is fitting that we honor this great American in a church because, out of church comes the notion of equality and justice," the president said. "Even though progress has been made," he said, "there is still work to do. There is still prejudice. ... There's still a need for us to hear the words of Martin Luther King so that the word of hope reaches everywhere in the land." (Full story)
In New York, Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, who became Senate majority leader after an uproar over a racially charged remark by his predecessor, Trent Lott, extolled King's example while speaking at a dinner hosted by the Congress of Racial Equality. Getting racism out of the American psyche, said Frist, a physician, is comparable to wielding a scalpel to cut away infection: it can be ugly, but healing. He called on Americans to "to dig, to dig deep into America's soul, to lift up our dialogue to a more robust and more effective level. I know we can find a new optimism to heal those existing wounds of division." Meanwhile, after what would have been King's 74th birthday last week, Mrs. King told The Associated Press that Americans should not be waiting for another single charismatic civil rights leader to emerge. "I think that what Martin would be happy with is that every person would follow his teachings and not depend on a leader," she said to the AP. "What he wanted to do was elevate the whole of humankind and [have] individuals understand that they can make a difference." King's elder son indicated that waiting is a waste of precious time. "Men or women who are like Martin Luther King Jr. are rare," Martin Luther King III said. "I don't believe we have the luxury to wait around until a Martin Luther King Jr. emerges." (Full story) Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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