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Carole Mikita ReportingThis year marks the 40th anniversary of the march on Washington and the famous "I Have A Dream" speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. His son, Martin Luther King III, now CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference is speaking in Salt Lake City this evening.
He is the keynote speaker for this year's opening session of the Sunstone Symposium, an annual gathering of Mormon intellectuals. He will talk about the black Latter-day Saint experience and what he calls his father's dream deferred.
Martin Luther King: "My four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character... I have a dream today...(crowd cheers)"
The oldest of Dr. King's four children remembers hearing his father's words and today carries his legacy across the country.
Martin Luther King III will lead the 40th anniversary march on Washington next week. He calls the famous speech 'a dream deferred' because equality for all citizens does not yet exist in America.
Tonight, his focus is blacks and Latter-day Saint priesthood. He will speak at this year's Sunstone Symposium. King calls the 1978 revelation a milestone but feels there are still remnants of discrimination.
Martin Luther King III: "This church foundation is doing some great work, perhaps saving souls, but you can't save souls if you're doing things that are hostile to a segment of the community."
And that dream of his father's is still waiting to be realized.
Martin Luther King: "One day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today."
Martin Luther King, III: "One day we will get beyond race but, unfortunately, race is still very real in America today."
Martin Luther King III will speak tonight at the Sheraton City Centre Hotel at 8:00. The New Pilgrim Baptist Church choir will also perform.
