Churches Across U.S. Remember King : Birthday holiday: The widow of the slain civil rights leader gives her ‘state of dream’ speech. She calls on Bush to seek unity.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was remembered in church services nationwide Sunday on the eve of what would have been his 61st birthday, and the slain civil rights leader’s widow called on President Bush to help unify America.

For the first time, the holiday falls this year on King’s actual birthday, Jan. 15. There were plans in all 50 states and 144 other countries for bells to ring and for a moment of silence in honor of King at 9:30 a.m. PST. The New York Stock Exchange also planned to pause, and the Liberty Bell was to ring in Philadelphia.

On Sunday, in Atlanta, Coretta Scott King delivered her annual “state of the dream” address at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her husband was pastor, before about 1,000 people, including such civil rights leaders as the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Joseph Lowery.

Mrs. King, noting that Bush is to deliver his State of the Union address in a few days, recalled a State of the Union speech in the 1960s by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Johnson “captured the imagination of the American people just by saying three little words, ‘We shall overcome,’ ” Mrs. King said.

“A quarter of a century later, President Bush has the same opportunity,” she said. “He can help unify America if he will break with the past by ending the arms race and working for programs to provide jobs and educational opportunities for all Americans.

“If he will avoid the kind of military entanglements that destroyed (Johnson’s) war on poverty, he can unify America and lead the world to a higher destiny,” Mrs. King said.

She called on King supporters to carry on her husband’s dream.

“Let’s be clear that the future depends on us and our determination to do God’s will,” she said. “If you take nothing else away from here today, let it be a conviction that you can make a difference.”

Jackson, a former Democratic presidential contender and former King aide, earlier spoke to textile workers in Louisville in central Georgia, from the steps of the Jefferson County Courthouse, within sight of an old slave auction block.

He urged all workers to stand up against their bosses for a living wage and decent working conditions.

“As long as the plug is pulled and the lights are out, we’re all the same in the dark,” Jackson said. “Regardless of color, hunger hurts.”

In New York City, Mayor David N. Dinkins, the first black to hold that office, told about 400 people at Judson Memorial Church about King’s struggle for equality and the need to continue.

“Dr. King took us to the dawn of a new era,” Dinkins said. “It is up to us to push on into the bright light of day.

“Dr. King dreamed of an inclusive society, where people would be judged by their good will and their good deeds,” he said. “That is my dream for our city.”

The Rev. Howard Moody, senior minister at Judson Memorial, expressed concern at Sunday’s service that King’s dream had not been fulfilled.