Annual tributes and commemorations of the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which began nationwide on Friday, typically include a mix of politics, faith and community service.
For this year’s celebration, the 37th since its federal recognition in 1986, a descendant of King hopes to spur progress by helping more Americans personalize the ongoing struggle for racial equity and harmony. Bernice King, daughter of the late civil rights icon, said people must move beyond platitudes and deepen their own commitments to the needed progress.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Passers-by walk near the 20-foot-high bronze sculpture "The Embrace," a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, in the Boston Common on Tuesday in Boston. The sculpture, consisting of four intertwined arms, was inspired by a photo of the Kings embracing when MLK learned he had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
“We need to change our thinking,” said King, who is CEO of The King Center in Atlanta.
Under the theme “It Starts With Me,” the center launched its slate of Martin Luther King Jr. Day events on Thursday with youth and adult summits to educate the public on ways to transform unjust systems in the U.S.
The summits were streamed online and are available for replay on the center’s social media accounts.
“It seems like we’re going through these cycles, because we’re trying to approach everything with the same mindset that all of this (racial inequity) was created,” King told The Associated Press.
“Change can be very small,” she said, “but transformation means that now we changed the character, form and nature of something. That’s something we have not seen yet.”
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Martin Luther King Jr. was born and raised in the American South, but his dream of racial equality and social justice reverberated out of his region, into the whole country and around the world. And it just wasn't his vision that spanned the globe -- the man himself embarked on travels far and wide.
Editor's note: Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, some of the indoor venues mentioned in this article could be temporarily closed or have limited capacity. Be sure to check their websites or call before you make visitation plans.
You can honor him on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, January 18) or anytime of year by walking in his footsteps or reading about his journeys online.
From his homeland in the heart of the South to unexpected destinations far beyond America's shores, here are the places that shaped and inspired the man:
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Georgia's busy capital city is King's birthplace and his final resting place. As such, it probably has the biggest claim on his legacy and MLK-related sites.
Many of them are clustered together at the MLK Jr. National Historical Park in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood of downtown Atlanta. Interior tours of buildings in the park are temporarily suspended in accordance with CDC guidance on the Covid-19 pandemic, but you are still free to take a self-guided outdoor tour, including the tombs for MLK and Coretta Scott King.
Some of the highlights include:
Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church: This is where MLK was baptized and where he co-pastored with his father starting in 1960. It's been magnificently restored inside and out to how it appeared in the 1960s and is an ideal place for prayer and quiet reflection. 407 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30312; +1 404 688 7300
MLK Birth Home: You can still see the exterior of the two-story house where MLK was raised, when Sweet Auburn was the epicenter for African American life in Atlanta. 501 Auburn Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30312; +1 404 331-5190
The King Center: Coretta Scott King established the The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in 1968. Almost 1 million people would visit annually pre-pandemic to learn more about the Kings' public and private lives and to pay their respects at their tombs, the reflecting pool and the eternal flame. 449 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30312; +1 404 526 8900
Just a few miles away, prestigious Morehouse College is King's alma mater. (In fact, MLK Jr. was one of numerous King family men to attend college there). The campus grounds are a lovely place to take a stroll where the young collegian walked. 830 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30314; +1 404 215 2608
About the photo: The residential portion of the Sweet Auburn Historic District, including the home where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born at rear right, is seen Wednesday, June 6, 2012, in Atlanta.
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For a city of its size, Memphis has an outsized influence on the nation's musical, cultural and political history. The United States was deep in turmoil and scarred by violence when King came to Memphis in March 1968 in support of striking sanitation workers.
King and his group were booked at the Lorraine Motel, a safe and welcoming place to stay for black travelers at the time. On April 4, King was standing on the balcony outside of room 306 when he was shot and killed.
Today, the Lorraine is the site of the National Civil Rights Museum, where you can learn about the broad sweep of civil rights history as well as see the room where the man who changed America spent his final living hours. The museum is temporarily closed but will have virtual programs at noon and 6 p.m. Central Time on Monday, January 18. 450 Mulberry St., Memphis, TN 38103; +1 901 521 9699
If you would like to also like to eat where King often broke bread, visit the soul food restaurant The Four Way. Opened since 1946, it serves Southern favorites such as fried chicken, turnip greens and lemon meringue pie (said to be an MLK favorite). 998 Mississippi Blvd., Memphis, TN 38126; + 1 901 507 1519
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It's difficult to overstate the impact of King's time in the segregated capital of Alabama during the mid-1950s. His coordination of the long bus strike after Rosa Parks famously refused to yield her seat put him on the national and international map.
Today, Montgomery has numerous must-see civil rights attractions, including The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (open with capacity limits) and the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University (currently open weekdays; virtual tours available).
These following King-specific sites are closed for now, but you can see their exteriors:
Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church: This church was founded in 1877 in a slave trader's pen and was originally called Second Colored Baptist Church. King served as its pastor from 1954 to 1960. It was from here he planned the bus boycott and other efforts to dismantle segregation. 454 Dexter Ave, Montgomery, AL 36104; +1 334 263 3970
Dexter Parsonage Museum: This is the clapboard house where King lived -- and which was bombed several times during the civil rights struggle. 309 S Jackson St, Montgomery, AL 36104; +1 334 261 3270
About the photo: The home where Martin Luther King changed from Montgomery pastor to national civil rights leader, pictured here on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2003, in Montgomery, Ala., has been restored to its 1950s appearance. The one-story, white house near downtown was the parsonage for Dexter Avenue Baptist church for nearly 80 years, but King was its most famous resident.
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The industrial powerhouse of the South and a bedrock of integration opposition in the mid-20th century, Birmingham also figured prominently in King's life.
It was from Alabama's largest city, after all, that he penned his famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" in 1963, in which he passionately defended nonviolent civil disobedience to skeptical white ministers who questioned his tactics and perceived impatience at the pace of change.
You can see the actual door from his jail cell at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (open with Covid-19 precautions in place) as well as important documents and oral histories from the civil rights movement. 520 16th St N, Birmingham, AL 35203; +1 205 328 9696
About the photo: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader, goes to jail in Birmingham, Ala., May 8, 1963, after being convicted of parading without a permit.
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It now seems inevitable that King's march for justice took him beyond the Deep South to the nation's capital. Visitors are being urged to avoid DC leading up to the inauguration, but you may want to enjoy these MLK highlights in Washington down the road:
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial: The first memorial to honor an African American individual on the National Mall, it opened to the public in 2011 and features a powerful 30-foot statue of King emerging from boulders. You can also read inspirational quotes made in carvings on the site. 1850 West Basin Drive SW, Washington, DC 20024 (closest Metro station is the Smithsonian)
The Lincoln Memorial: Fittingly, it was from the steps of this beloved memorial that King gave his most famous speech -- "I Have a Dream." Sit on the steps, close your eyes and just imagine the atmosphere there on August 28, 1963, as more than a quarter of million people filled the National Mall to hear what became one of the most important speeches in US history. 2 Lincoln Memorial Cir NW, Washington, DC 20037
The National Museum of African American History And Culture: The museum made an excellent addition to the capital's many fine institutions when it opened in 2016. The museum contains artifacts directly related to King as well as a sweeping look at the contributions and tribulations of black Americans. 1400 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20560; +1 844 750 3012
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While several cities in the South claim part of the King legacy, it may surprise some folks to know that Boston, that bastion of New England, also was a key place in shaping his life.
Before returning to the South, King attended Boston University in the early 1950s. Just as you can walk in the undergraduate's footsteps at Morehouse, you can do the same for grad student King at BU. 771 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215; +1 617 353 3710
You may want to go to the grounds of the impressive Massachusetts State House, where King addressed a joint session of the legislature in April 1965. 24 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02133
According to WGBH, a 22-foot memorial will rise on Boston Common by early 2022 to commemorate MLK and Coretta Scott King (this is the city, after all, where they met and where they began married life).
About the photo: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., center, is presented a large rose by Mrs. Virgil Wood, right, who is shaking hands with King's aide Rev. Ralph Abernathy outside the Patrick Campbell School in Roxbury section of Boston, Mass., April 22, 1965.
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Combine a gorgeous island getaway with some MLK history on Bimini, the western most outpost of the Bahamas and just 50 miles off the coast of Florida.
King would come here to relax and craft his speeches, including notes for his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech he gave in Oslo, Norway, in 1964.
CNN Travel's Lilit Marcus reported in a 2018 article that "there are two busts of King on the island -- one in front of the Straw Market in the center of Alice Town and one among the very mangroves where King spent so many peaceful afternoons."
The Bahamas is open to US citizens. Click here for entry requirements.
About the photo: Martin Luther King Jr., at Bimini, a tiny Bahamian Island off the Florida coast, where he came to write his speech of acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize on Nov. 19, 1964.
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Mahatma Gandhi's crusade of nonviolent resistance to liberate India from British rule deeply influenced King.
In February and March of 1959, King embarked on a five-week tour of India to learn more about the movement that inspired him. In Delhi, he met with Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, among others. He talked with students at New Delhi University.
Eventually he made his way to Calcutta (now called Kolkata), India's intellectual center. Martin Luther King Sarani, a street named for him in the heart of the city not far from the Victoria Memorial.
In Bombay (now called Mumbai), King visited Mani Bhavan, which is where Gandhi worked and lived for 17 years. Today, it's a museum where you can see artifacts from Gandhi's life, though India is not open to US tourists as of mid-January 2021. 19, Laburnum Raod, Gamdevi, Mumbai-400 007, India; + 022 23805864
About the photo: American civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. removes his shoes before entering Mahatma Gandhi's shrine in New Delhi, India, Feb. 11, 1959.
Other King holiday weekend events include a statue unveiling in Boston, a symposium on police brutality in Akron, Ohio, and community service projects in many U.S. cities. The holiday kicks off another year of advocacy on a racial justice agenda — from police reforms and strengthening voting rights to solutions on economic and educational disparities — that has been stymied by culture wars and partisan gridlock in Washington and nationwide.
Residents of Selma, Alabama, which played a central role in King’s legacy, woke up to extensive damage Friday from a deadly storm system that spawned tornadoes across the South. The city became a flashpoint of the civil rights movement when state troopers viciously attacked Black people who marched nonviolently for voting rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965.
King wasn’t present for the march known as “Bloody Sunday,” but he joined a subsequent procession that successfully crossed the bridge toward the Capitol in Montgomery. The Pettus Bridge was unscathed by Thursday’s storm.
On Sunday morning, President Joe Biden is due to speak at a commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the historic Atlanta house of worship where King preached from 1960 until his assassination in 1968. The church is pastored by the Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who recently won election to a full term as Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator.
And on Monday, the federal observance of the King holiday, commemorations continue in Atlanta, as well as in the nation’s capital and beyond.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who got his start as a civil rights organizer in his teens as youth director of an anti-poverty project of King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, will hold his annual King holiday events in Washington, D.C., and New York on Monday. Martin Luther King III is expected to attend Sharpton’s breakfast gala in Washington with his wife, Drum Major Institute President Arndrea Waters King, who will be honored alongside former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Monday afternoon in New York City, Sharpton, the founder and president of the National Action Network, is scheduled to convene more than 30 prominent state and local elected officials for a public policy forum at the House of Justice, his organization’s headquarters in Harlem.
In the decades since its establishment, the King holiday has become an opportunity for elected officials and candidates seeking office to establish their civil rights and social justice credentials. Bernice King said partisanship among politicians has been a major obstacle to legislative solutions on civil rights.
Overcoming that is “going to require elevating to a place where your loyalty is to humanity, not to party,” she said.
“If we don’t find humane ways to create policies and implement practices out of those policies, we’re going to continue in this vicious cycle of a downward spiral towards destruction and chaos.”
Outside of establishment politics, many King holiday weekend events are opportunities for Americans to give back, reflect on the civil rights icon’s legacy or deal locally with racial discrimination in their own communities.
A massive monument to Martin Luther King Jr. is scheduled to be dedicated Friday in Boston, where the leader first met his wife, Coretta Scott King. In the early 1950s, he was a doctoral student in theology at Boston University and she was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music.
The $10 million sculpture called “The Embrace” consisting of four intertwined arms was inspired by a photo of the Kings embracing when King Jr. learned he had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. It was designed by Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group and was selected out of 126 proposals.
Imari Paris Jeffries, executive director of EmbraceBoston, the organization behind the memorial, noted the significance of the sculpture’s placement at the Boston Common, America’s oldest public park and a high traffic area with millions of city residents and visitors walking its paths every year.
“I think Boston has this reputation of being this city of heroes and abolitionists, like W.E.B. Du Bois and Frederick Douglass, simultaneously with this reputation of not being friendly and in some cases being described as racist. So there’s this tension between these two images of Boston. Having the memorial there is part of our intention to transform our city’s perspective.”
