Dexter Scott King (left), son of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., listens as Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin speaks during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Commemorative Service in Atlanta, Georgia yesterday. - REUTERS
ATLANTA (AP):
"BOLD, AUDACIOUS" action is needed to make sure society really heeds the message of slain black civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King, including pressing for more aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Shirley Franklin said yesterday.
"It is our time to step up to the plate as we have done in the past to lead this country and world by example," Franklin said at the King Day service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King once preached.
Franklin called on Atlantans to make a personal commitment to help those in need, including hurricane victims, and to "comprehend the full message of Dr. King."
"Employ a homeless man or woman," she said. "Sponsor a homeless family. Give a convicted felon who has served his time another chance."
"This, Atlanta, is a time for rigorous and vigorous positive action ... bold, audacious, courageous, persistent" action, she said.
Americans marked the holiday day across the country with services and volunteer projects to aid communities. King would have turned 77 on Sunday. He was shot to death in 1968.
In Columbia, South Carolina, hundreds of people crowded into Zion Baptist Church to kick off a march to the Statehouse for the annual King Day rally.
