A city pauses to remember, is inspired by King

From volunteer projects for teenagers to renewed calls for commitments to social justice, thousands in Boston yesterday celebrated the life and memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In a posh hotel ballroom, a chilly church basement, and packed university meeting rooms, people remembered King's steadfast dedication to racial equality and nonviolence.

King, who would have turned 75 this year, had deep links to Boston: He spent four years studying for his doctorate at Boston University, lived on Massachusetts Avenue, and met his wife, Coretta Scott, here.

Yesterday, speakers struggled to connect King's messages of equality and respect to the issues of today, with segregation outlawed but gaps remaining in income and education for many minorities.

"Dr. King would probably remind us that we're all in the same boat, regardless of who we are or what we do," Justice Roderick L. Ireland, the first African-American appointed to the state Supreme Judicial Court, told nearly 450 people at Boston University.

"So I know he would urge us to give a hand not just to each other, but also to the little guy."

At BU, students read portions of King's essays and implored their fellow undergraduates to use the holiday as a day of service to others, not as a day to sleep in.

"Living Martin Luther King's idea of community means . . . not living by your self-interest and thinking about what you can do to better the community," said Christina Turner, 20, a junior majoring in sociology.

Service also was the theme at the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center in the South End, where 100 middle schoolers were sworn in as "Young Heroes" to volunteer in their communities.

The initiative is part of the national group City Year, which promotes community service.

Earlier that morning, about 2,000 people, including many of the state's religious, civic, and business leaders, flocked to the Sheraton Boston Hotel for the 34th memorial breakfast honoring King's life.

Always a popular event among politicians, the breakfast was not entirely serious in tone.

Upon rising for his speech, Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston joked that Massachusetts senators John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy were not present because they were busy with the Iowa presidential caucuses.

Then, turning to Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, the Democratic mayor said: "You know, governor, we Democrats have caucuses. You guys have dictatorships."

Gasps and laughs followed, and Menino added: "I don't mean that in the worst sense. They pick a candidate and go with it."

"We don't get partisan," Menino explained. "We just want to make sure we get the record straight."

Menino turned to the inspiration he receives from King's storied but truncated life, telling the audience, "Every day, I try to lead the city of Boston in the direction that Dr. King envisioned. He worked tirelessly for equality amongst our people."

Menino later took another poke at Romney by introducing him as, "a governor who some folks have issues with."

He soon thanked Romney for signing a bill last week that would offer homeowners a greatly reduced increase on their property taxes, and called him a champion for education.

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor," Romney said, stepping onto the dais. "I didn't know where he was going with that, but it came out OK in the end."

In his address, Romney launched into a comparison of King to the many US presidents he's been reading about recently -- a comment that some in the crowd saw as evidence that Romney will someday seek to join that elite club.

He said King shared George Washington's humility, Abraham Lincoln's morality, Theodore Roosevelt's fearlessness, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's ability to unify, and John F. Kennedy's visionary patriotism.

Romney then guessed at what King would tell him to do if he were alive today. Romney was using the opportunity to restate many of the issues he addressed last week during his State of the State speech.

"He'd be telling me fight for more good jobs for common folk. He'd be saying fight for more housing for those that can't find housing. He'd be telling me to keep fighting for good families and encourage people to be in families, and parents to work with kids, and to build strong families," Romney said.