44th Martin Luther King Jr. prayer breakfast pays tribute to civil rights icon

Monday marked the annual national celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the annual Triangle interfaith prayer breakfast

Posted 2:19 p.m. Jan 12 — Updated 6:06 p.m. Jan 15

DURHAM, N.C. — Hundreds gathered Monday to celebrate the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the 44th annual Triangle interfaith prayer breakfast, sponsored by the Triangle MLK, Jr. Committee and Capitol Broadcasting Company.

The theme of the event was "It Starts with Me: Creating a Beloved Community.” WRAL's Gerald Owens was the host.

The event, at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Durham, began at 7 a.m. with musical tributes, including a performance by national recording artist Kim Person, and prayers for reconciliation, justice and peace.

The Very Rev Canon Sandye A. Wilson, interim dean of All Saints Cathedral in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, delivered the keynote address.

"This world is desperately in need of love, compassion, truth, justice and moral courage," Wilson said. "Let love be genuine. There's so much good that simply needs to be harnessed into a community expression of hope ... if we're willing to join hands and do the work together. The movement is never solitary friends -- it is always done in community."

Wilson is a priest and community activist with a demonstrated history of working in the religious institutions industry and building bridges of hope. She has served in leadership roles at St. Augustine's University in Raleigh and at Episcopal churches from Brooklyn, NY, to Beverly Hills, Calif. She is an economist and a theologian who has coached diversity, equity and inclusion, paying particular attention to social responsibility in investing – for businesses and for communities.

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Observances celebrating King's work toward civil rights are scheduled throughout the Triangle and across the country. The Triangle MLK, Jr. Committee will follow the prayer breakfast with a march in downtown Raleigh, beginning at 11 a.m. at the State Capitol.

King's birthday is marked with an annual federal holiday, a day many spend in service to honor him.

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King was 39 when he was assassinated on the evening of April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

A brief timeline of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus.

King famously delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington, calling for equality among the races.

He pushed for federal civil rights legislation that was eventually enacted and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. King’s example, and his insistence on nonviolent protest, continues to influence many activists pushing for civil rights and social change.

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