Today marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on April 4th, 1968.
Events to commemorate the anniversary began earlier this week in Memphis at the National Civil Rights Museum and they culminate today with Chicago’s own Father Michael Pfleger delivering a speech in King’s honor at the commemoration.
He told NBC5 that his talk will be about commitment, saying… “If we really want to truly honor him, we need to live like him – pick up his mantle and do the things he called us to do – to live and fight for justice every single day.”
Father Pfleger speaks at 5:30pm and his speech will end at 6:01 p.m., the exact time Dr. King was assassinated. At that time, the museum will start the Nationwide Bell Toll, ringing 39 times, one for each year that Dr. King lived.
Then, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Congressman John Lewis, Marian Wright Edelman and other icons of the civil rights movement will join new leaders in social justice for an Evening of Storytelling, with the theme, “Where Do We Go From Here?”
The museum will livestream the events of the day and you can tune in at their website, here.
Rest in power, Dr. King... may we soon achieve the dream you envisioned for us.