MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Latest on commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (all times local):
11:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump says it’s up to people, not the government, to achieve the ideals expressed by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Trump’s comments came in a White House proclamation issued Wednesday on the 50th anniversary of King’s slaying in Memphis, Tennessee.
Trump proclamation echoes King’s own words in saying: “We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters lest we perish together as fools.” And he says it’s the people of the United States, not government, who will achieve King’s goals.
Trump proclaimed the anniversary as a day to honor King. He also sent a tweet about King’s legacy.
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10:45 a.m.
As part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., two lawyers were awarded a prize celebrating his legacy of nonviolence.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize was presented Wednesday by King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, to Benjamin Ferencz and Bryan Stevenson at the King Center in Atlanta.
Ferencz, who recently turned 99, prosecuted Nazi war crimes. He cracked jokes before turning serious and urging the audience to never give up on things that are important.
Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, and has devoted his career to helping the poor, those in prison and death row inmates. He said he’s always drawn inspiration from King and said it’s important to continue to demand justice for those who are treated unfairly.
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10:30 a.m.
Thousands have gathered in Memphis for events to commemorate the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
One of them was 73-year-old Fredna White from Waco, Texas. She’s retired from the department of Veterans Affairs.
She said the commemoration of King’s assassination brings the issues he fought for back to the forefront — such as equality and economic justice.
She said: “This a good reminder to tell us to get back with it, work it, united for all the causes.”
She said the diverse nature of the crowd gives her hope that “there may be some coming together of our country, our people, our nation.”
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10:05 a.m.
The daughter of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is calling him “the apostle of nonviolence” on the 50th anniversary of his assassination.
The Rev. Bernice King said Wednesday her father was known as a civil rights leader and great orator, and he was both of those things. But she says his message of nonviolence is a vital part of his legacy.
She spoke during a ceremony to award the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize held at the King Center in Atlanta.
The award was being presented to Benjamin Ferencz, a lawyer who prosecuted Nazi war crimes, and Bryan Stevenson, a public interest lawyer who founded and heads the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama.
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9:50 a.m.
The Indianapolis park where Robert Kennedy called for peace and unity just hours after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. is being designated a National Historic Site.
A bill approved by Congress for the designation was signed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday’s events at the park marking the 50th anniversary of King’s death.
The park near downtown Indianapolis is where Kennedy was to make an April 1968 presidential campaign speech, but instead told the crowd of King’s assassination and asked for a nonviolent reaction.
Participants in Wednesday’s event included Georgia congressman and 1960s civil rights activist John Lewis and Robert Kennedy’s daughter, Kerry Kennedy.
Indianapolis Rep. Andre Carson says he hopes the historic designation is a reminder of the need for non-violence and tolerance.
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9:05 a.m.
Hundreds of people gathered at a union headquarters Wednesday morning hours before a march marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee.
Workers at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees office chanted, banged drums and held signs saying “I Am” — one of the slogans for events surrounding the anniversary of King’s death. One man hauled a cart full of commemorative T-shirts he was selling for $10.
Andre Gipson, the local president for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, says about 400 members from other cities are in Memphis for the march. He says the march promised to be a “very special” event for workers.
People were bundled up on a chilly yet sunny morning.
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8:23 a.m.
Fifty years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the civil rights leader’s family and admirers were marking the anniversary of his death with marches, speeches and quiet reflection Wednesday.
The commemorations stretch from his hometown of Atlanta to Memphis, where he died, and points beyond. Among the first events is a march led by the same sanitation workers union whose low pay King had come to protest when he was shot. Another event will kick off about the same time in Atlanta, where King’s daughter the Rev. Bernice A. King is moderating an awards ceremony in his honor.
The Memphis events are scheduled to feature King’s contemporaries, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, along with celebrities such as the rapper Common. In the evening, the Atlanta events culminate with a bell-ringing and wreath-laying at his crypt to mark the moment when he was gunned down on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. He was 39.
Wednesday’s events followed a rousing celebration the night before of King’s “I’ve Been To the Mountaintop” speech at Memphis’ Mason Temple Church of God in Christ. He delivered this speech the night before he was assassinated.
Inside the church, Bernice King called her older brother, Martin Luther King III, to join her in the pulpit, and she discussed the difficulty of publicly mourning their father — a man hated during his lifetime, now beloved around the world.
“It’s important to see two of the children who lost their daddy 50 years ago to an assassin’s bullet,” said Bernice King, now 55. “But we kept going. Keep all of us in prayer as we continue the grieving process for a parent that we’ve had yet to bury.”
The anniversary coincides with a resurgence of white supremacy, the continued shootings of unarmed black men and a parade of discouraging statistics on the lack of progress among black Americans on issues from housing to education to wealth. But rather than despair, the resounding message repeated at the church was one of resilience, resolve, and a renewed commitment to King’s legacy and unfinished work.
A gospel singer led a rousing rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and the gathering took on the air of a mass meeting.
Lee Saunders, a national labor leader, recounted how on that night in 1968, King made an unplanned appearance to deliver the famous speech without notes after his aides saw how passionate the crowd was: “There was one man they wanted to hear from.”
But Saunders stressed that the purpose of the week’s commemorations was not just to look to the past.
“Dr. King’s work — our work — isn’t done. We must still struggle; we must still sacrifice. We must still educate and organize and mobilize. That’s why we’re here in Memphis. Not just to honor our history, but to seize our future,” he said.
Former President Barack Obama spoke in a video, saying “as long as we’re still trying, Dr. King’s soul is still rejoicing.”
Some of the sanitation workers who participated with King in a 1968 strike sat in the front row and were treated like celebrities, with audience members stopping to take photos with them before the event started.
The commemoration of the “Mountaintop” speech followed an announcement earlier in the day by civil rights leaders who are reviving an economic justice campaign first planned by King. The organizers of a new Poor People’s Campaign are planning 40 days of marches, sit-ins and other peaceful protests.
“This first 40 days is not the end; it’s the launch,” said the Rev. William Barber of North Carolina, one of the co-chairs of the revived campaign. “You will see simultaneous moral direct action. You will see simultaneous training of people to prepare for a season of massive voter mobilization.”
Starting May 14, clergy, union members and other activists will take part in the events in about 30 states, targeting Congress and state legislatures. Then, on June 23, organizers plan a large rally in Washington — similar to what King had envisioned. The original Poor People’s Campaign was carried out in 1968 after King’s death by other civil rights leaders.
