Nation Honors Dr. King

Celebrations of the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will take place across the nation on Monday, the 30th anniversary of the day being named a national holiday.

New York City will host arts events, including hte "Activist New York" Exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York and a celebratory walk/run across the Brooklyn Bridge, according to DNAinfo.com. 

Events in the nation's capital include a wreath-laying ceremony at the African American Civil War Museum and a Peace Walk, WUSA-TV reports.

In Detroit, the events will range from the somber to the celebratory, with events including a jazz concert and a comedy jam, according to the Detroit Free Press. 

Los Angeles will have a parade with the theme "Our Work Is Not Yet Done" and there will be a replica of the Montgomery, Alabama bus that Rosa Parks was riding when she refused to give up her seat, setting off a bus boycott, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The King Center in Atlanta is set to celebrate at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

The commemorative service caps more than a week of events meant to celebrate the slain civil rights icon's legacy. The overarching theme of this year's celebration is "Remember! Celebrate! Act! King's Legacy of Freedom for Our World."

"What most people around the world want, whatever nation they live in, is the freedom to participate in government, the freedom to prosper in life and the freedom to peacefully coexist," said King's daughter, the Rev. Bernice King.

The theme of freedom is especially meaningful this year, she said, because it is the 50th anniversary of her father going to Chicago to highlight the need for open and fair housing. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in January 1966 announced plans for the Chicago Freedom Movement.

In a nod to that legacy, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro is set to speak at Monday's service.

Also set to bring greetings at the service is Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, charge d'affaires to the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba.

The Rev. William Barber II, president of the NAACP in North Carolina, is set to deliver the keynote address.

Among the highlights of the events leading up to the commemorative service was a two-part discussion on Jan. 9 — part one was The Race Factor and part two was Rights vs. Responsibilities — that was part of the King Center's series "The Beloved Community Talks," which focuses on King's philosophy of nonviolence. Part of that philosophy involves having truthful, candid, intense, uncomfortable conversations without anyone feeling demoralized, Bernice King said.

"Conflict is inevitable. Differences are inevitable. We will never get to a place where we will all agree on everything," she said. "We have to have a manner of dealing with each other where we respect the dignity and worth of the person."

The annual Salute to Greatness Awards Gala, the King Center's primary fundraiser, was held Saturday. It is meant to honor individuals and corporations that demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility. This year's individual honoree was Howard Buffett, chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the corporate honoree was TIAA-CREF, a financial services company.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.