Martin Luther King Day service calls for non-violence amid turbulent times

Martin Luther King Jr (Derek Hawes/Newcastle University/PA)

Speakers at the annual Martin Luther King Jr holiday celebration in Atlanta have called for a renewed dedication to non-violence following a turbulent year in which a deadly pandemic, protests over systemic racism and a divisive election capped by an attack on the US Capitol strained Americans’ capacity for civility.

“This King holiday has not only come at a time of great peril and physical violence, it has also come during a time of violence in our speech — what we say and how we say it,” said the Rev Bernice King, the murdered civil rights leader’s daughter.