MLK Day kicks off at King’s Atlanta congregation with daughter’s warning about anti-woke rhetoric

A massive 70-member choir belted out “Hallelujah” to open a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service Monday at his former congregation in Atlanta, followed by a stern message from his youngest daughter warning against anti-woke rhetoric.

The service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was among the most prominent commemorations of King planned across the country Monday. It also included seven people at the front of the stage holding large signs proclaiming “JUSTICE” “FREEDOM” and “DEMOCRACY.”

“We are living in a time when anti-woke rhetoric has become a weapon to divide us and distract us from the real issues of injustice,” King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said. “To be woke is to be aware of oppression and commitment to justice.”

The MLK holiday was half of the nation’s double-duty Monday: the inauguration of Donald Trump, who heads back to the White House, created mixed feelings on King’s day for civil rights leaders who have opposed Trump’s rhetoric and stances on race and civil rights.

The keynote speaker at Ebenezer then made a reference to Trump, saying he had heard “that somebody had won a mandate.”

“I don’t care who you are, if you win 60% of the vote, you never win a mandate to violate justice,” said Bishop William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign. “You never win a mandate to hurt people.”

But in Washington, in a speech after taking the oath of office, Trump noted the significance of the King holiday.

“In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality,” Trump said.

Ebenezer is where King was baptized as a child and ordained at 19 years old. He became the congregation’s co-pastor in 1960 alongside his father, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. He remained in that role until his death, and his funeral was held at the church. The church is now part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park & Preservation District.

Monday marks the third time in the nearly 40 years since the federal King holiday became law that it coincides with a presidential inauguration. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also were sworn in for their second terms on the holiday.

King himself worried the legal protections he dedicated his life to realizing would not be followed by greater anti-discrimination efforts or social programs. The celebrated Black civil rights leader proposed it would take white Americans embracing a deeper kinship with Black Americans and engaging in economic and social solidarity to see change.

There was a heavy security presence outside the Atlanta church, where more than two dozen police officers from across metro Atlanta stood guard with all-terrain vehicles, police motorcycles and suburban utility vehicles. Streets in the immediate vicinity of the historic church were blocked to vehicle traffic.

Lonnie J. Edwards of Stone Mountain, Georgia, has been attending the annual service for 15 to 20 years. He always finds it refreshing that the movement King led is still alive, and he said he enjoys “sharing the kind of philosophy and the image that Dr. King had not just for Atlanta but for America.”

Liccy Arias, 21, a recent Geogia State Univeristy alumnus, was among a large group of Georgia State students and faculty members at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Her visit was part of the day of service the Atlanta-based school has on the holiday.

“Helping out makes my heart very, very full,” she said.

In frigid Columbia, South Carolina, an MLK Day rally at the South Carolina Statehouse entered its 25th year with a smaller crowd, with some trepidation mixed in about the change of power occurring in Washington. The South Carolina event started in 2000 when tens of thousands poured in to demand the Confederate flag be taken down from the Capitol dome.

In 2013, the rally paused so thousands on hand could watch Obama, the nation’s first Black president, take the oath of office for a second time on big screens. On Monday, there was no mention of the 2025 inauguration.

College student Michael Parker thought about how King endured through all kinds of racism and hate, confident he would make the world a better place. That was the attitude he was taking Monday.

“There’s still work to be done,” Parker said. “Progress hasn’t gone steady through the generations. We need to keep working on Dr. King’s dream.”

King was shot in Memphis, Tennessee, while standing on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. The civil rights leader had been in the city to support a sanitation workers’ strike. The motel has been turned into the National Civil Rights Museum, which is providing free admission and offering extended hours to visitors on Monday.

Also on the schedule at the museum are musical performances, food and blood donation drives, and a livestreamed presentation that will explore King’s leadership and his relevance to present day social justice movements.

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Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Adrian Sainz contributed from Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Mattise, from Nashville, Tennessee; and Bruce Shipkowski, from Toms River, New Jersey.