A Moody pastor challenged persons attending a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event to do more than simply lay a wreath at the statue of the slain civil rights leader.

“If all we do is lay a wreath, take a picture and go home unchanged, then this beautiful circle of flowers becomes something Dr. King never was — silent, safe and decorative,” said the Rev. W. Vincent Curtis, pastor of First Baptist Church of Moody.  “Today, my message is real clear. We must move from commemoration to continuation. We are not only here to remember what Dr. King did. We are to continue what Dr. King began. As scripture says in James1:22, ‘Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving our own selves.’ We are not here just to hear about justice, but we are here to do justice.”

Curtis and other members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity gathered at Kelly Ingram Park in downtown Birmingham to remember King, who was a member of the fraternity.

“This wreath is our way of saying we did not forget your labor, Brother,” the pastor said. “We do not forget your courage. We did not forget your life. And as Alpha men, that obligation is even deeper. Dr. King is not just an historical figure to us. He is our brother. He is part of our lineage, part of a story of Alpha Phi Alpha, this house of manly deeds, scholarship and love for all mankind.

“Yes, we must commemorate,” Curtis said. “But there is a danger in commemoration alone. If all we do is celebrate the memory of the movement without carrying the mission of the movement, then we have turned a life of radical obedience into a comfortable tradition. Commemoration without continuation is really a quiet betrayal of our brother.”

The wreath-laying was one of several events celebrating the 40th observation of the holiday remembering the civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.

King advanced civil rights for people of color and others in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination, which most commonly affected Blacks.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute celebrated its I am the Dream: MLK Holiday Observance by providing free admission to people touring the exhibits at the institute. The day included live performances, music, games and giveaways.

Throngs of people also paraded through 16th Street Baptist Church across the street. The church was the site of the 1963 bombing that killed four little girls, which was a turning point in the Movement. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference also conducted a parade through downtown to remember King, its  founder and first president.

Other MLK Day events in Birmingham included:

• The 40^th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast at The Star Church. The breakfast is said to be Birmingham’s largest forum to celebrate racial reconciliation, educate today’s youth and nurture a vision of communities without poverty. During the breakfast, information was to have been provided to benefit community and nonprofit leaders seeking resources for their constituents. The breakfast also serves as a support event for the annual MLK Scholarship Essay program that provides direct scholarships to high school students throughout Birmingham.
• The MLK Day Habitat Restoration at W.E. Putnam Middle School.
• The MLK Day Litter Cleanup (District 1) at 421 Red Lane Road, Birmingham.
• An MLK Day of Service community cleanup at Harrison Park and Recreation Center.
• An Edgewater Community cleanup.