Coakley Draws Parallels Between King And Gun Violence At Annual MLK Breakfast
BOSTON (CBS) - Hundreds of people packed the convention center in South Boston Monday to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a breakfast in his honor.
The event marked the 43rd MLK breakfast in Boston, the oldest running Martin Luther King Day event in the country.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports
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Many in attendance remarked about the historic significance of the holiday falling on Inauguration Day.
One-hundred-and-fifty-years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and 50 years after King's "I Have A Dream" speech, Attorney General Martha Coakley drew other parallels.
"Dr. King and President Lincoln unfortunately have another trait in common," Coakley told the crowd. "They, like so many others, are the victims on gun violence. I recommit myself and our office to ending gun violence in America."
Gov. Deval Patrick currently in Washington D.C. for President Barack Obama's inauguration, was absent from the breakfast.
Patrick addressed the crowd in pre-taped remarks.
"It's fitting these two his even should intersect," Patrick said. "Dr. Martin Luther King was a man of vision, one of courage and grace. He imagined this day before Americans could conceive of blacks and whites drinking from the same fountain."
