The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, is so famous that it often eclipses his other speeches.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s life as a pastor's child gave him a tangible lesson he'd translate into inspiration a country still strives to uphold.

As described in magazine interviews and in his autobiography, several incidents were particularly significant in King’s childhood development and, ultimately, in shaping his goals as a national civil rights leader in the 1950s and 1960s.

When I was a young child, my parents had this huge black and white photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hanging in our living room.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to be observed Monday, is an appropriate time to recall an exceptional person. But more importantly, it’s a time to recommit the nation to the cause for which King died and the legacy he left for all of us.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. certainly had a dream, and so did two local sisters who organized an annual event in Mount Airy to honor his legacy.