LOUISVILLE, KY. — On Martin Luther King Day, Reverend Charles Elliott Jr., of King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church in Louisville, continued his annual tradition of honoring the civil rights leader he knew with a prayer event. 

“Dr. King and I marched for many years for righteousness and justice,” Rev. Elliott said to those gathered at the Kroger parking lot in Louisville’s West End neighborhood for the prayer service event.

“1968 the Lord allowed hate to take him out, but we are here today to talk about love,” said Rev. Elliott, who in 2012 was himself inducted into the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame. 

The 86-year-old told the crowd that he remembered growing up in Wheeler, Alabama and having to get off the sidewalk so white people could walk by. 

“Dr. King told us down in Birmingham [Alabama] one of these days Black and white goin’ to walk together, holding hands, goin’ help each other, and God done let me live to see it.” Rev. Elliott exclaimed. 

Rev. Elliott said he’s held a prayer event for Dr. King for decades. However, this year’s the first during a pandemic. After the parking lot prayer event, Rev. Elliott told reporters that he told Kentucky’s governor and Louisville’s mayor that he couldn’t cancel the event.

“I’m one of those who brought Dr. King here about 50 or something years ago when we were not allowed to buy houses in certain areas so I just couldn’t; I couldn’t! I couldn’t cancel this,” Rev. Elliott explained.

While bringing up the past, Elliott and other speakers also acknowledged the civil rights movement that started last year after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. 

After the event, attendees piled into their vehicles for a motorcade that went to King Solomon Baptist Church for an in-church service to honor Dr. King. 

Chris Wells, who has been protesting in Louisville since last year, took to the bullhorn as the motorcade was getting underway to chant “Black Lives Matter.”

Wells said he has attended Rev. Elliott’s annual MLK Day prayer event since he was two-years-old, but he said this year felt different. 

“Martin Luther King opened the doors up for people like me in this new generation by taking a stand and having a voice, not only in the community, but in the nation. So this is a beautiful day for me.”