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Virtual events held to honor life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

His brothers and sisters at the 36th Annual MLK Scholarship Breakfast held a discussion - was Dr. King a movement, a moment or both?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy were celebrated virtually on Monday.

Those that knew him and those who were inspired by him shared their messages on what they think he stood for.

Members of New Britain Youth Service's Youth Leadership Group participated in memorializing Dr. King Jr.

The children may not have walked the steps from the 1950s, but they do believe history has repeated itself.

New Britain Fire Chief Raul Ortiz was one of the speakers. He is the first Latino fire chief in the department's 187-year history.

"Dr. King was in a position to help his fellow brothers and sisters. We’re all placed in a position to help our brothers and sisters," said Ortiz.

His brothers and sisters at the 36th Annual MLK Scholarship Breakfast held a discussion - was Dr. King a movement, a moment or both?

Deacon Art Miller was arrested in 2015 for kneeling down in the intersection of Bloomfield and Albany Avenues in Hartford. He wanted to prove a point in that Black Lives Matter.

"He was not the only nor the first one to die like Emmet Till. He was not the first to die. Like George Floyd - they were not the only ones to die by the hands of the police," said Miller, director of the Office for Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Children of Ralph Abernathy, the man who mentored Dr. King Jr. shared flashbacks of the Civil Rights Movement.

"To live constantly in fear of maybe our house being bombed again. My mother and I escaped being bombed in the 10th of January 1957. It’s a miracle that my mother and I lived," said Juandalynn Abernathy, one of Ralph Abernathy's oldest children.

The chairman of the MLK Breakfast spoke powerfully on the definition of racism and applied it to today's recent events.

The chairman of the MLK breakfast spoke powerfully on the definition of racism -- applying it to today's recent events.

"Racism is not mean people being mean to people. Racism is people in positions of power denying people their right, an alienable right life, liberty and justice," said Dolores Johnson Drake.

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