ATLANTA — The call for courage came clearly, a cry accompanied by deafening approval, from Ebenezer Baptist Church.
The push to bravely pursue justice rolled through the pews and brought thousands to their feet during a service to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the very Atlanta neighborhood where the slain civil-rights icon was born, preached, and buried.
The 49th annual service marked what would have been the 88th birthday of the minister and activist, who was born on Jan. 15, 1929, at his family home about a block away from the church where he, his father, and grandfather served as pastors.
Concern about what may come during the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, to be inaugurated Friday, tinged the holiday event.
IN PICTURES: MLK Day service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta
“If we are going to be honest in our support for [Mr.] King it is necessary to bring his spirit and his courage into the year 2017,” said U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D., Vt.), who gave an impassioned tribute book-ended by standing ovations.
The former Democratic presidential candidate called the climate “a pivotal moment in American history.”
“Our job is to stand together and to create that community of love that [Mr.] King fought and died for,” he said.
Speakers echoed that sentiment as they addressed the 2,000-person capacity crowd gathered in the sanctuary of the more-modern Ebenezer Baptist Church, located across the street from the historic church and Mr. King’s tomb.
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His daughter, Bernice King, chief executive officer of the King Center, called for the community to work together to fight injustice.
She recalled her father’s message of unity and pointed to their shared faith in God “no matter who sits in the White House.”
Several speakers referenced the weekend skirmish between Mr. Trump and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights leader and long-serving Democratic congressman from Georgia’s 5th district, which includes much of Atlanta.
Mr. Lewis recently said he would skip the Republican’s inauguration and questioned his imminent presidency’s legitimacy.
Mr. Trump lashed out on Twitter, saying Mr. Lewis should instead “spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart.”
“The city of Atlanta is in the heart of the South,” said Mayor Kasim Reed. “What I have to say to you, Mr. Trump, is that if the city of Atlanta didn’t exist, the United States of America would need to invent it.”
The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest and social-justice activist from Chicago who delivered the keynote speech, urged courage in the fight against racism and poverty.
“We must as a country decide that we are not going to tolerate racism anymore,” he said. “Plantations still exist, and too often white hoods have been replaced by three-piece suits.”
The roughly four-hour service included prayer, numerous speakers, music, and even a tap-dance routine.
Just outside, people gathered throughout the day to pay their respects to Mr. King, assassinated in 1968 in Memphis.
They stood in a long line to cross the threshold of the modest brown-and-tan house where the leader was born Jan. 15, 1929. Many of the significant places in Mr. King’s life are separated only by steps in this neighborhood known as Sweet Auburn, now a National Historic Site.
A testament to protest and progress, the area east of downtown Atlanta’s expanding skyline is infused with a sense of history and purpose.
About a block from the former King home, another line wound its way through the sanctuary of the old brick church, where beneath stained-glass windows mourners grieved at Mr. King’s funeral. Many sat silently Monday in wooden pews, listening to a recording of him speaking.
Mikenzie Lewis of Atlanta stopped in the morning quiet at his nearby tomb, where by midafternoon throngs posed for photographs and even burst into song. She said Mr. King’s legacy in Atlanta is important to the city, although many associate him with Montgomery, Ala., where he was a church pastor and led a bus boycott.
Mr. King was one person, Ms. Lewis said, but he inspired a movement.
“It was about civil rights, but more so than that, it was social change,” she said.
Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.
First Published January 17, 2017, 5:00 a.m.
