East Texans honor Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.

TYLER — Retired attorney, veteran, and community volunteer Beverly Russell takes the podium as guest speaker at Tyler’s annual interfaith service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Russell says she wanted to know and communicate who Dr. King really was and why he did the things he did — so she did some studying of her own. Russell told KTBB, “He was a man that…from his life experiences decided that…love was the way to break down barriers…make people reflect on their thoughts and their behavior — and that love ultimately could overcome all.”

Russell continued, “After studying and learning more about him and…getting ready for the speech, what I learned was that…he truly made a choice that non-violence was the way to go if we were to move forward as a nation…so that’s what I take away from my study of Dr. King.” Tyler and Longview joined other communities across the nation in celebrating the annual King holiday. Both cities held events beginning Friday and stretching into Monday.