MARTIN LUTHER KING TRIBUTES ARE MEANINGFUL

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live," Martin Luther King Jr. once observed. King practiced what he preached, pushing for civil rights in an era of discrimination marked by a society that all too often was segregated from bathrooms to buses.

He proved to be a lightning rod for the civil rights movement, his eloquence doing more to tear down the walls of segregation than any bomb could ever do. Felled by an assassin's bullet in Memphis in 1968, King lives on today through his accomplishments.

Locally, a number of events are scheduled this week and next to celebrate the life of the slain civil rights leader. It is good the region pauses to remember this influential man.

The public is invited to an ecumenical worship service at 7:30 tonight at First Presbyterian Church, 235 Broadway. Today marks the anniversary of King's birth in 1929. Organizers are hoping the service will foster better race relations in the region.

As part of tonight's service, an individual will be recognized with a new award. This honoree must have demon~strated the ideals of justice, freedom and change through non-violence that Dr. King exemplified.

Tonight's service will mark the first time that Cape Girardeau has held such a communitywide event celebrating King's life. In the past, there have been events marking King's accomplishments, but those have been confined largely to the Southeast Missouri State University campus. That's not to say those events haven't been worthwhile, but a communitywide endeavor is to be applauded.

The university this year for the first time is canceling classes Monday in observance of the federal holiday. Many area public schools will also observe a holiday Monday, including the Cape Girardeau Public Schools.

The University Center is featuring displays depicting King's life. A memorial breakfast will be held Monday in the University Center Ballroom, and an educational program on the civil rights movement will be held at 7:30 that night in Academic Auditorium.

A Freedom March will be held on Jan. 26, beginning at the Cape Girardeau Common Pleas Courthouse.

In an age of easy cynicism, we all too often trivialize such activities. But King's civil rights achievements should be remembered, not just within the parameters of history but because they vividly demonstrate the indomitable American spirit to triumph over injustice.