23rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration

Deborah Young, right, and Gwyndle McGee join in singing "We Shall Overcome" at the close of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 at St. James AME Church in Cape Girardeau.

The Rev. Howard McGee, pastor of New Horizon Church, presents the keynote address at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 at St. James AME Church.

Debra Mitchell-Braxton, right, presented the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award posthumously to Willie Newbern, which was accepted by his wife, Edna Newbern, and his daughter, Denise Dunnavant, at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 at St. James AME Church.

Louise Duncan received the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 at St. James AME Church.

Debra Mitchell-Braxton, right, presented the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award to LaCroix United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau. Accepting the award, from left, are Carl and Mendi Black, Connie B'dell and Rob Mehner, spiritual formation pastor. The award was given at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 at St. James AME Church.

Candles were lit in tribute to the children who lost their lives through violence in the last year.