Atlanta — Under the shadow of America's war on terrorism, thousands gathered across the country Monday to pay tribute to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his message of unity and equality.
In Atlanta, a standing-room-only crowd of about 2,000 packed the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the civil rights leader once preached. Assassinated in 1968 at age 39, King would have turned 73 last Tuesday.
First lady Laura Bush, left, talks with Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr., during services at the Ebenezer Church in Atlanta. In a service later Monday at the White House, President Bush announced a new scholarship in the civil rights leader's name.
"I can't help but think how Dr. King would be pleased at how we've come together since Sept. 11," said Georgia Sen. Max Cleland.
First Lady Laura Bush, who also attended the service, called King "a man committed to peace and a man committed to change."
"American history is unimaginable without him," Mrs. Bush said. "He stood for truth, he did the will of God and made America a more just nation."
King's widow, Coretta Scott King, asked people to use the holiday as a day of service, as did her son Martin Luther King III in Detroit.
"We don't see it as a day off," he said. "We see it as a day on which people can be involved in community service."
In Boston, King's eldest daughter, Yolanda, addressed 1,500 people at the city's largest annual MLK Memorial Breakfast. She said Sept. 11 erased racial differences for now.
"Skin color was covered by the ash of burning towers," King said. "Perhaps the best response to this tragedy is to not go back to normal."
Schoolchildren, public officials and religious leaders spent the day volunteering in communities around Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia, children from Jewish and Muslim schools worked at The Greater Philadelphia Food Bank to package food for needy families.
"It shows how much we can do to help people when we put our minds to it," said Sophia Bernstein, 12, a seventh-grader at Perelman Jewish Middle School.
"Everyone was touched by what happened Sept. 11 and because we're Muslims, some people in this country thought we were happy about it," said Hend Salah, 10, a fifth-grader at Al-Aqsa. "If kids are brought up right and brought up good, they won't believe those things."
Members of the Democratic-controlled Colorado Senate were among the politicians in Denver's 17th annual King parade and march. Senators had the day off for the first time since Colorado recognized the holiday in 1984.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives continued working.
In Raleigh, N.C., about 700 people marched about a mile in the rain to the antebellum former state Capitol for speeches recalling King's life and work.
Hundreds also braved the rain to protest the Confederate flag on Statehouse grounds in South Carolina.
Many said the flag, moved off a pole atop the Statehouse dome and onto a flagpole at ground level, made it difficult to fully celebrate King's legacy.
"I would like to see us come to a point where there is more unity," said Nikki Sims of Spartanburg.
In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg made an appearance at the Rev. Al Sharpton's headquarters. His predecessor, Rudy Giuliani, had avoided Sharpton.
Bloomberg also warmly greeted David Dinkins, the city's first and only black mayor, during a City Hall ceremony.
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