INDIANAPOLIS — Several organizations and churches came together Monday to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
St. John's Missionary Baptist Church held a birthday celebration service for King on Jan. 15.
"This is a very important day for us because it reminds us that we're in a struggle and that the struggle is not over," said Dr. Lionel Rush, president of the Interdenominational Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis. "They thought they killed the dream, the dreamer, but the dream lives on. That's what this day means to me."
Many consider the church to be sacred because of its history and connection to King.
"This is sacred ground, this territory right here," Rush said.
The church is close to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park. King visited Indianapolis and stayed at the home of Dr. Andrew J. Brown.
Brown, known as the father of civil rights in Indianapolis, preached at the church. He knew King well, and so did his son, Rev. Dr. Thomas L. Brown.
"I had a chance to know Dr. King, because I'm 14 when they're coming to the house, and he's only 27. My dad's 33. Now, imagine them young men together. Can you imagine what their conversations are like?" Brown said.
Brown would later join the SNCC, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, in 1962 and worked throughout the South, protesting segregation.
"This event, in regards to the celebration, is one where I see as a possibility to advocate to start training people in nonviolence. You hear violence, but you don't hear no one talk about nonviolence," Brown said. "Nonviolence trainings coming from our pulpits, nonviolence trainings coming from our schools. This day kind of reinforces what I call L-O-V-E. You know what that means? Let our violence end."
Speakers from different faith communities spoke about togetherness.
"Dr. King is a beacon of America's civil rights movement, and it's undeniable that drew inspiration from the nonviolent movement of Mahatma Ghandi," said Susmita Singh, of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh.
There were also members of the Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Christian communities in attendance.
Another celebration for King took place at the Walker Legacy Center. Organizers hosted American journalist and author Roland Martin, who is known as "The Voice of Black America."
"That's indicative of doing the work. A lot of young folks walk up to me all the time and they say, 'I want to do what you do.' And my response is, 'But do you want to do what I do?' Martin said. "A lot of folks, what they want is they want the fame, they want the selfies, they want the relationships with celebrities and top political leaders, but that doesn't happen unless you do the work."
Martin said it's about recognizing what those before you did and accomplished "and realizing that we didn't even get to this point without a vibrant Black-owned media."
He talked about the impact of Black-owned media and having independent Black voices.
"Every place that I've worked, I have demanded that level of respect from anybody, so you're not going to treat us second class," Martin said. "If you go to red carpets, if you go to events, and they'll have different markings on the floor for different ABC, NBC, CBS, they might have us on the far end, small space, and I'll say, 'Absolutely not.'"
Many thanked Martin for coming to Indianapolis.
"It's special because I know how in-demand he is," said James Poore, owner/operator of McDonald's.
Poore also shared why this day is important to him.
"Just remembering today that all he did, he did before the age of 39, and the average age of the person in there is probably over 39 right now, so it's remindful of the impact he had in such a short period of time that it challenges us to say at our age, what have we done that compares to anything he's done. So it's telling us we gotta catch up for lost time," Poore said.