'They’ll never kill the dream': People honor Martin Luther King Jr. 56 years after his assassination

Dozens gathered at the African American Performing Arts Center in Albuquerque on Thursday evening — 56 years to the day that civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down on the balcony of a Memphis hotel.

“They may kill the dreamer, but they’ll never kill the dream,” Southern Christian Leadership Conference New Mexico President Charles Becknell Sr. told the crowd, referring to April 4, 1968, the day King was assassinated by James Earl Ray.

It was because of King that we “can be in the same room together and not have to be segregated,” event attendee Lapifany Campos told the Journal.

Thursday’s event was hosted by Veterans for Peace, NAACP Albuquerque and the New Mexico MLK Commission.

NAACP Albuquerque President Harold Bailey said the organizers wanted to make sure people understood what King stood for.

Luis Quinones said King was “one of the greats in civil rights, not just in the U.S. but around the world.”

“It’s a very sad day,” Quinones said of the anniversary. “It was a shock to all of us when it happened.

“They killed a person who was making an incredible contribution to our society. (He was) one of the greatest in our history.”

During the event, clips were shared from one of King’s famed speeches, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” in which King spoke about the Vietnam War at Riverside Church in New York City. The speech was given on April 4, 1967, exactly a year before he was assassinated.

Bailey said, in today’s world, King would be speaking against the war that’s going on in Gaza.

“When is enough, enough?” Bailey asked.

While guests listened to King’s speech, photos of King were shown, including his mugshot from an arrest in Montgomery, Alabama. The presentation also displayed a picture of protesters holding signs that read, “Jim Crow Must Go.”

After the replay of King’s speech ended, the crowd applauded and others came to the podium, including Veterans for Peace member Bill Tiwald. Tiwald said if it weren’t for King’s nonviolent methods, things could have gotten “bloody” during the 1950s and 1960s.

King helped prevent that outcome, Tiward said.

“(Today,) we should always be ready, be trained, in nonviolent actions,” he said.

Air Force veteran Sheritta Washington said King would “want us to continue the work” he did.

“There’s so much work to be done,” she said. “Together, we can make such a difference.”