Subscribe
The Daily Grind Video
CLOSE

History!

Yesterday friends and family of Civil Rights Hero Martin Luther King Jr. came together at his memorial located on the National Mall in D.C. to celebrate what would have been his 83rd birthday.

STORY: REMIXED! Martin Luther King Jr. Monument Gets Redone!

The historic day was extremely peaceful. Visitors rejoiced accompanied by Dr. King’s son Martin Luther King III, his wife Arndrea King, and their daughter Yalanda.

Martin King III spoke of his father’s last lived birthday at 39 not being about him, but about the people. He said:

“After singing happy birthday they were planning for what was called the poor people’s campaign, where he wanted to bring together poor blacks and whites and Native Americans and Americans from all walks of life, to say to our nation’s policymakers, that we really demand the right to decent jobs with decent pay…”

The President and First Family also celebrated Dr. King’s birthday at Zion Baptist Church, established in 1864 by Blacks who migrated to Washington D.C. from Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The sermon delivered in the presence of Barack Obama and the First Family, was by Reverend Keith Byrd Sr. The Revered showed appreciation for the First Family’s presence saying “The Obamas came here to worship, and we want them to worship…

‘Bless you and thank you for joining us…” He also asked his congregation to preserve our morals, preserve our values like salt amid political, social and economic turmoil.”

Martin Luther King Jr. will forever be a hero to the world. The Nobel Peace Prize recipient was assassinated in 1968; his legacy will live on forever.

To see images of the celebration and memorial take a look at the accompanying gallery.