By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – Alabamians braved chilly temperatures Monday to celebrate Martin Luther King Day, with breakfasts, parades and speeches honoring the slain civil rights leader.
A unity breakfast was held in Birmingham. Retired Army General Wesley Clark and former NBA star Charles Barkley presided over another in Leeds. And elected officials, both black and white, recalled King's message on the steps of the Capitol after a parade in Montgomery.
Governor Bob Riley spoke in the capital. He said it is time to stop talking about social equality and time to start acting to make it happen.
State Representative Alvin Holmes, a Montgomery Democrat, led the ceremony in Montgomery, as he has for many years. After introducing a string of speakers, Holmes urged everyone in the crowd to hold hands and join him in singing ''We Shall Overcome.''
King's actual 79th birthday was January 15, but the federal observance is recognized on the third Monday in January.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)