The tomb of Martin Luther King Jr. is pictured at Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, where hundreds of people gathered to commemorate the federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader. King was assassinated in 1968 and now is entombed alongside his wife, Coretta Scott King, on the campus that includes the old Ebenezer Baptist Church where he once preached, the church's new sanctuary and The King Center that seeks to ca…
January 17, 2023
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King's daughter calls for bold action over words
America has honored Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday for nearly four decades yet still hasn’t fully embraced and acted on the lessons from the slain civil rights leader, his youngest daughter said Monday. The Rev. Bernice King, who leads The King Center in Atlanta, said leaders — especially politicians — too often cheapen her father’s legacy into a “comfortable and convenient King” offering easy platitudes. “We love to quote King in and around the holiday. ... But then we refuse to live King 365 days of the year,” she declared at the commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her father once preached.