56 years after his death, Martin Luther King's appeal for nonviolence applies to a war-torn world

Caption

Family members place a wreath near the crypt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King at the King Center in Atlanta on April 4, 2024, 56 years after MLK was assassinated.

Credit: Amanda Andrews / GPB News

The family of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gathered at the King Center in downtown Atlanta this morning for a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 56th anniversary of the civil rights leader's assassination.

A crowd of about 50 people stood at the edges of the center's reflecting pool to view the ceremony attended by King family members, including Derek King, Alveda King and their children as well as Isaac Farris Jr., Angela Farris Watkins and others.

The water sparkled in the bright sunshine as the procession of relatives placed a wreath of seasonal blooms and yellow ribbons in the shadow of the headstone bearing the names of MLK and Coretta Scott King.

The ceremony opened with prayer and the 1920s gospel number "This Little Light of Mine."

Then Bernice King, CEO of the King Center and youngest child of Martin and Coretta, spoke about grief in the wake of her brother Dexter King's death from prostate cancer at age 62 in January of this year and the loss of her aunt, Dr. King's sister Christine King Farris, who died at age 95 in 2023.

Bernice, 61, and Martin Luther King III, 66, are the only two surviving children of MLK. Their sister Yolanda died at 51 in 2007, a year after their mother Coretta died at age 78 in 2006.

MLK III was not by his sister's side for the ceremony in Atlanta today, but instead represented the family at memorial events in Memphis. Martin Luther King Jr. was just 39 years old when he was shot and killed at the Lorraine Motel there on April 4, 1968.

After the ceremony, Bernice King, a lifelong advocate for the nonviolence movement her father furthered, told GPB the day [of April 4] is about remembering the work MLK was pursuing when he was killed.

"It's not just about acknowledging the day of assassination," she said. "But it's about drawing strength from the work that he was doing, and the work that we have to continue to do, because the triple evils of poverty, racism and militarism are ever present and obvious more now than ever before in our world."

Isaac Newton Farris Jr. said he believes if his uncle were alive today, he'd push for an end to the war in Gaza. “He would be speaking out about the atrocities that are happening there," he said, with Bernice King chiming to say a call for cease-fire would be an appropriate.

Recent Spelman college graduate Farris Christine Watkins said her great uncle's legacy is now up to today's youngest generations.

"Our soul is mighty, our soul is determined, and that's the blood that runs through our veins," she said of the power of the King family name to motivate action. "And we will not let it go in vain. We will continue to fight, will continue to stand firm. So the tears might fall. But know that we're strong on the inside, for sure."