More than four decades ago, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to what he called "the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation" and described his vision for America in his famed "I Have a Dream" speech.

Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on that August day, King spoke of the nation making good on the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation signed a century before by President Abraham Lincoln. "But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt," the civil rights leader proclaimed. "We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice."

While his lines about dreaming of a day when children and adults of different skin colors would treat each other and be treated equally must readily come to mind, King also quoted a pair of Bible passages during his address, including an exhortation that African Americans' call for rights would not be satisfied "until 'justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.'"

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day prayer breakfast sponsored by the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, set for 7 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16, will commemorate King as the "Conscious of a Nation," with Rev. Everett W. Hannon Jr. of Lexington as keynote speaker. The breakfast and program to follow will be held at Handy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 450 E. Jackson St. in Marshall.

Clyde Williams, president of the Marshall-Saline Branch of NAACP, said, "Martin Luther King's dream and ministry is for the actualization of an inclusive human community which he believed must come about. It is for us, who dare to ask to be led by the spirit of hope, to continue living toward becoming the beloved community of which Dr. King dreamed and for which he so unceasingly worked and gave his life."

Hannon, whose biography includes serving as guest chaplain and giving the opening prayer for a session of the U.S. House of Representatives in October 1997 and acting as keynote speaker for the 1990 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance at Central Missouri State University, will be the featured speaker in the program following Monday's breakfast. He is the pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church in Lexington.

There is no charge for the breakfast or program.

The day set aside to honor the slain civil rights leader is a "day to reaffirm the American ideals of freedom, justice and opportunity for all," said Williams.

Contact Mark Lile at

marshallbusiness@socket.net