King's Church Rings With Praise

The Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached his message of racial equality rang with praise today for the slain civil rights leader, reports the AP. Hundreds of notables, including Bill Clinton, Mike Huckabee, and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, crammed into Ebenezer Baptist Church. "King's legacy gives light to our hopes, permission to our aspirations, and relevance to our dreams," said Franklin.

"He freed us all to fight the civil rights battle, to fight the poverty battle, and do it together," said Clinton, who credited King with the presence of an African American, a Baptist minister, a Mormon, and a woman in this year's presidential race. King’s influence, he said, caused him to appoint more African-American officials than all previous administrations combined. (More African Americans stories.)