Lubbock celebrates Martin Luther King with songs and praise

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Hundreds of people turned out to the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center on Monday night to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been his 86th birthday.

"Tonight, we're celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday with a gospel night. We have several guest speakers and solos that will be honoring Dr. King's birthday," said Deborah Deary.

Deary is the Vice President of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Council.

"This is where we have our mass choir and just celebrate and enjoy just the goodness that we have celebrated for the last three days," Deary said.

This was the final event in a series of city wide gatherings to honor Dr. King.

A volunteer choir serenaded the crowd with gospel songs, and a series of soloists and speakers took turns praising God and putting into words everything that Dr. King achieved.

"We all understand that Dr. King stood for rights, for everyone's rights, and everyone's civil rights," Deary said. "It is a slow process but it's going on."

Weekend events also served as a chance to remind the younger generation of everything that Dr. King achieved.

"Lots of youngsters, they don't know the legacy that Martin Luther King left and how great it was for him to do that, the leadership that he had," District 2 Councilman Floyd Price said.

He is the Lubbock City Councilman for District 2.

"I grew up here in Lubbock, TX and I grew up during the segregated era and then I was there when all this changed, when the African Americans had voting freedoms and all the other freedoms that we have now."

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