Raleigh remembers Martin Luther King Jr. as a leader of ‘radical love’ with march, sermon
Hundreds gathered in Raleigh on Monday for the city’s 45th annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., marching through downtown before an ecumenical service in his honor.
“Dr. King took America’s face and made her stare at who we say we are and who we want to be,” the Rev. Mark-Anthony Middleton, who delivered the sermon, told the crowd.
The march began outside the historic State Capitol building and continued across Fayetteville Street before ending outside the Martin Marietta Center, where the service was held.
Middleton called King a proponent of “radical love,” and attendees remembered him as a leader who encouraged action and compassion.
“He was for all people,” Julia McClain, a Raleigh resident attending the march, said. “He really helped us as an individual to really take note of that and start to remember that we as individuals have to start building our own legacy. He started the foundation; we need to build back on it and keep it moving for the next generation.”
But President Donald Trump’s inauguration also loomed over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations.
“While this gathering is going on, we have this interesting person that’s being inaugurated as the new president of the United States,” Samuel Scarborough, a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill, said. “Seeing this contrast between this gathering of love and what I would consider that gathering of hate speaks ... volumes of what Dr. King talked about when he talked about two Americas.”
Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, who represents Wake County, called the coinciding events “surreal.”
“As a Democrat, there were hopes and aspirations that today was going to be the day that Kamala Harris was going to be sworn in as the next president of the United States,” he said. “And that’s not the case. But, I think whether it’s the inauguration or marching at an MLK celebration — we just hope and pray the country comes together.”
During his sermon, Middleton, who also serves as mayor pro tempore of Durham, suggested that Inauguration Day was actually the perfect opportunity to remember King’s legacy and teachings.
“Don’t fear today,” he said. “Don’t shut away from looking at what’s happening. Because on Martin Luther King Day, while we’re here with this wonderful children’s choir — he’d be in Washington saying ‘What are y’all going to do?’”
At the end of his sermon, Middleton challenged attendees to take their own oath to uphold the principles King lived by.
“Please raise your right hand and say, ‘I swear or affirm to keep the dream alive,’” he said. “’I swear or affirm to preserve, protect and defend human dignity and human rights. I swear or affirm to treat people the way I want to be treated. I swear or affirm to combat bullying and to say ‘good morning’ when no one says anything to me. I swear or affirm to make Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill the beloved community that King died for.”
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This story was originally published January 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM.
