Bush: MLK Challenged America's Injustices

ATLANTA -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "left this country a different and better place," said President George W. Bush. "Dr. King's faith and courage continue to inspire America and the world."

Bush was among those honoring King's legacy Monday. At an MLK Day event in Washington, Bush said King "loved America enough to challenge its injustices."

Bush spoke at Georgetown University honoring outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife.

Americans Celebrate MLK Day In Many Ways

Across the country, different communities are remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with parades, service projects and speeches.

Thousands of people attended an MLK Day parade down Martin Luther King Drive in San Antonio, Texas, and 45,000 volunteers showed up in Philadelphia for the 10th annual day of service. It includes hundreds of community projects, such as renovating schools and churches and packing goodies for American troops overseas.

Thousands of people also took part in a rally and march through downtown Atlanta, to mark the holiday in memory of King. Parades marking the holiday were held around Georgia, including Savannah, Moultrie, Tifton, Bainbridge, Gainesville and McDonough.

In New Orleans, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed a bill Sunday recognizing King's birthday as a state holiday.

"I want this day to be more than a day to remember. I want this day to be an annual reminder of what remains before us, to create unity and equality in Louisiana and in the nation, forever," she said.

Hawaiian organizations and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition plan to jointly mark two of their most important anniversaries: King's birthday and the anniversary of the Hawaiian kingdom's overthrow. The Royal Hawaiian Band will stage a concert Friday honoring both Queen Liliuokalani and the slain civil rights leader.

Twenty-five Martin Luther King Day trees will be planted in Jackson, Miss., in an event sponsored by the Mississippi Urban Forest Council, the U.S. Forest Service and the Mississippi Forestry Commission. Local musicians will also be honored at the event.

In Cheyenne, Wyo., an annual Martin Luther King Jr. march is scheduled for downtown. Later in the week, Harvard Law School professor and best-selling author Randall Kennedy host a discussion on the language of racism. And there will be an "End of Racism Comedy Tour" appearance by Preacher Moss, a former writer for "Saturday Night Live" and the "Damon Wayans Show."

Singer Harry Belafonte, who met Martin Luther King Jr. nearly a half-century ago, met Saturday with a group of about 60 people, many of them children, during a celebration of King's life at a Boys and Girls Club in Lauderhill, Fla.

He said the 13 years he worked side-by-side with King were the most important of his life. The 77-year-old Belafonte was scheduled to appear Monday at another event celebrating King in Bal Harbour, along with poet Maya Angelou.

King's Son Calls For Tsunami Aid To Honor MLK

On this holiday in memory of Martin Luther King, a son of the slain civil rights leader is calling on Americans to reach out to the survivors of the south Asian tsunami disaster.

Martin Luther King III told a crowd at a memorial service Monday that it's a way to remember his father's legacy. He spoke at the Atlanta church where his father once preached.

At the annual observance, he asked people to reach out to help those who are suffering because of the tsunami.

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Thousands are expected to take part in an afternoon rally and march through downtown Atlanta.

President George W. Bush is planning to attend an event honoring King later today at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

The Civil Rights Issue For 21st Century: The Wealth Gap

Activists say it's going to be the civil rights issue of the 21st century.

Forty years after the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and decades after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made strides in racial equality, the racial line that divides the United States today is made of money, civil rights advocates say.

Civil rights advocates preparing to celebrate King's birthday Monday say economic equality will be an overriding issue in the continuing struggle.

Despite the strides made by King and others, fewer blacks than whites own their homes, get fair loans, invest in the stock market, sit on corporate boards, or have any real control over the flow of investment dollars.

One expert said the widening wealth gap is reversing gains made in other areas over the years.

Bush Joining King Day Observance

President George W. Bush is joining in observances Monday marking the birthday of a man he calls a "visionary American." Bush said King "believed deeply in liberty and dignity for every person."

The president is speaking Monday afternoon at a celebration of King's life. The event at Washington's Kennedy Center is sponsored by Georgetown University.

In his proclamation of the King holiday, Bush said the slain civil rights leader's "charismatic leadership awakened the conscience of America."

Bush said in the decades since King's death, the nation has accomplished much in its "journey toward justice." But, he added, that journey "has not been an easy one, and it is not over."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday that war, poverty, violence and social injustice dampen King's legacy.

King’s Family Disagrees On How He Would Treat Gay Marriage

Would King have supported gay marriage?

The slain civil rights leader's widow, Coretta Scott King, has often invoked her late husband's teachings to promote gay rights. In a speech last year, she denounced a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

But the Kings' youngest child, Bernice King, helped lead thousands of people in an Atlanta march last month calling for an amendment to "fully protect marriage between one man and one woman."

Alveda King -- niece of the slain civil rights leader and a vocal opponent of gay marriage -- said she joined her cousin in the march because she believes her uncle never intended gay rights to be part of the civil rights movement.

Bishop Says Many Blacks Are Still Enslaved On King Holiday

A leader of the nation's largest black denomination said many in his community are still enslaved this Martin Luther King Day -- by drugs, gangs, pornography and materialism.

Bishop George McKinney of the 5.5 million-member Church of God in Christ said those shackles can only be broken through faith in Jesus Christ.

In his latest book, "The New Slavemasters, " Bishop McKinney said many blacks have forfeited their freedom through self-destructive behaviors.

He said King was "a Gospel preacher and, in a very real sense, a prophet" who echoed Jesus' concern for the poor and oppressed.

Monday, he said, "It is the church that offers the greatest hope for those who are enslaved, and the freedom that Jesus brings through the Gospel is total."

Tape Shows JFK Fumed Over Civil Rights Pressures

A newly released tape from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum reveals how frustrated the late president was with pressure to advance civil rights.

The tape of the 1963 meeting with members of Americans for Democratic Action was released to coincide with Martin Luther King Day on Monday.

Kennedy fumed over an Associated Press photo showing a police dog attacking a black teenager in Birmingham, Alabama. He angrily told the activists there was nothing the federal government could have done to prevent such action.

One ADA member urged him to speak to the nation about civil rights, but Kennedy interrupted, saying his administration had "shoved and pushed."

Just over a month later, Kennedy did address the nation, announcing new civil rights legislation. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed after his death.