Several events marking the 55th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death are scheduled for Tuesday in Atlanta.
As has been a tradition for decades, members of King’s immediate family are expected to place a wreath on the crypt that the assassinated civil rights leader shares with his wife Coretta Scott King.
The 2:45 p.m. wreath-laying ceremony in remembrance will be held on the plaza of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, at 445 Auburn Ave., near his childhood home.
Bernice King, the CEO of the Atlanta-based King Center and King’s daughter, is expected to be joined by Congresswoman Nikema Williams, among others.
At 12:30 p.m., before the wreath-laying, Bernice King will lead a virtual discussion, along with MSNBC’s Joy-Ann Reid and Russ Wigginton, president of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, on “MLK55: Transforming Unjust Economic Systems.”
“My father spent the latter part of his life addressing economic inequities within the African American community,” King said. “Fifty-five years after his death, we are still dealing with many of the same issues that have stifled our economic growth and left what seems like an insurmountable wealth disparity, for the Black community, when compared to other ethnic groups.”
The conversation will stream on The King Center and National Civil Rights Museum’s social media platforms.
The National Park Service at Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park will also host a series of events on Tuesday, marking King’s passing and encouraging visitors to “reflect upon Dr. King’s home environment, his family values and the neighborhood where he was born, grew up, worked, worshipped and is buried,” said Superintendent Judy Forte.
At 5:10 p.m., the Park Service will recognize King with a bell-ringing ceremony followed by another wreath-laying ceremony in Heritage Sanctuary of Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where members of the King family, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the church will share reflections.
At 6:01 p.m., another wreath will be placed outside of the church.
King was shot at 6:05 p.m. on the evening of April 4, 1968 in Memphis on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. King had been in Memphis in support of that city’s treatment of sanitation workers.
On the night of April 3, he delivered his final speech, “I Have Been to the Mountaintop,” where he talked of “difficult days ahead.”
“But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”
Less than 24 hours later, standing alongside Ralph David Abernathy, Andrew Young and Jesse Jackson, King was assassinated by James Earl Ray.
This past weekend a statue — the fourth one in Atlanta honoring King — was unveiled in Vine City. The statue is a visual representation of the “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” speech.
Also, to mark King’s passing, on Tuesday night, his alma mater, Morehouse College, as part of its ongoing Human Rights Film Festival, will present “Shared Legacies: The African American-Jewish Civil Rights Alliance.”
The short documentary looks at the ties between Black and Jewish Americans before and during the Civil Rights era.
Doors open at 6 p.m. for the free event at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel on the Morehouse College campus. A panel discussion will follow, featuring prominent Black and Jewish scholars, as well as the filmmaker Shari Rogers and attorney and former King speechwriter Clarence B. Jones.
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