Events Across NYC Honor Life, Legacy Of Martin Luther King Jr.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York City remembered the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Monday with multiple powerful events.
As CBS2's Emily Smith reported, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was the master of ceremonies for the largest tribute to King in New York City. More than 2,200 people gathered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to remember the civil rights leader's life, legacy and message.
Adams held up a sign at the event, looking like it read, "Impossible." But the actual message was, "I-M possible," or, "I am possible."
"It's Martin Luther King Day, and we always try to do some kind of service or come to a great event like this," said Shawn Long, of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
The event has been going strong for 29 years and is the largest of its kind in New York City.
"This is a free event in the spirit of how do we give back and keep the energy of Dr. King alive," Adams said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and U.S. Sen Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., also took the stage to remember King.
"Now why do we celebrate and revere the memory of Dr. King? It's because his words and deeds accomplished nothing less than the elevation of the entire human race," Schumer said.
For many, just one word described King.
"Inspiration – absolutely," one participant at the event said.
"The word that comes to mind is 'persistence,'" another said.
Meanwhile, celebrating the life and legacy of King also meant another large crowd and long lines at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. All were waiting for a free showing of the movie "Selma," a chronicle of King's campaign for equal voting rights when he led a march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama in 1965.
"I remember being a kid and how things were, and I want to see how well they did this movie," one participant said.
Upon getting into the church, it was a matter of finding a seat. Organizers said more than 900 children were expected for the screening.
"Because our society is headed in a direction that seems to be going backwards, our young people – particularly so many of them filled with anger and hate -- need to understand what this nation has been through," said the Rev. Calvin Butts, pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church.
The commemorations of the civil rights icon came at a time of increased focus on race relations in New York City.
Several demonstrations were held to protest the apparent chokehold death of Eric Garner, who was black, by a white police officer.
Events Across NYC Honor Life, Legacy Of Martin Luther King Jr.
De Blasio also appeared with the Rev. Al Sharpton for the first time since a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict the officer.
Sharpton has been a flashpoint in the mayor's tense relations with police.
Sharpton and members of Garner's family laid two wreaths at the site where two NYPD officers were gunned down in their squad car last month.
Events Across NYC Honor Life, Legacy Of Martin Luther King Jr.
"In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King against any senseless violence," Sharpton said.
"Violence that is the cause of death, the shedding of innocent blood, is something he stood against," Sharpton added.
Sharpton was accompanied by several bus loads of supporters, who then traveled to Staten Island to hold a vigil where Garner died in police custody.
Events Across NYC Honor Life, Legacy Of Martin Luther King Jr.
Garner's family -- and relatives of Akai Gurley, an unarmed man fatally shot by a police officer in an apparent accident at a Brooklyn public housing complex -- also participated in a march on Broadway on Monday.
There was anger, but level headedness, WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported.
"It's really important to us since we've been called terrorists that we show them that this is what Martin Luther King was about: nonviolent resistance," said Esther Baldwin, one of the organizers of the demonstration.
On Monday night, the day ended with a rousing tribute to at the 11th annual concert in honor of Dr. King for Brooklyn College. Admission was free to the concert, which is one of the largest events for the holiday in the city.
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