Many of the inequities that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood against are still palpable in modern day America.

That idea was present throughout the City of Goldsboro’s annual Martin Luther King Day celebration, which was held on Monday in a virtual format due to the pandemic.

Goldsboro Mayor Pro Tem David Ham welcomed the audience to the online event.

Councilman Ham says, we’d still be turning to Dr. King for comfort and guidance in this time of racial tension and political unrest in the U.S.

Congressman G.K. Butterfield says the life and work of Dr. King cannot be described in minutes or even hours.

Rep. Butterfield says Dr. King’s leadership and vision “saved this nation from ruin.”

State Rep. Raymond E. Smith Jr. from Goldsboro says Dr. King is near and dear to his heart.

Rep. Smith spoke about his experience living through integration of Goldsboro area schools and he remembered the day Dr. King was assassinated.

Smith says he wonders if we’ve progressed in those 50 years, and says its important to have difficult, uncomfortable conversations on the state of our country.

The complete video of the City of Goldsboro’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. event can be viewed below.