Wendell — In less than two weeks, residents will gather to remember the leader of this nation’s civil rights movement.

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration will take place Jan. 21 at Wendell Baptist Church.

Event organizer James Lee said it is fitting that people here remember King’s commitment to equality.

“I look back to that speech he made in 1964 in Washington D.C.. My mind still goes back to all the people who heard him and wanted to be with him. It’s a case of everybody working together with people of all communities,” Lee said last week.

King was slain in 1968 while he stood on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tenn.

Lee, the pastor at Wendell First Baptist Church, says efforts to maintain and improve on civil rights gains of the past 40 years are not just the responsibility of the black community, but of the white community as well.

“I’m hoping and praying that we can press on toward unity with one another, forget about the color ratio, look at people as human beings. We are all going through the same thing and having the same problems. All our bloodlines are red,” Lee said.

Dr. James Seymour, head of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh will be the guest speaker at a breakfast celebration, set to begin at 8 a.m. in the church’s new fellowship hall.

Lee said he hopes having an ecumenical speaker will encourage attendance from those who have not participated in the past.

“We wanted to reach out into the center so that we take it away from the church, because there are still people out there who are still not church, but we want them to take part in this celebration, too,” Lee said.

The event has been held in Wendell each year since the town’s centennial celebration in 2003. Last year’s event was moved to Zebulon as part of that town’s centennial celebration.

Breakfast will be served to those with tickets, but people can attend the program without tickets.

To get a ticket, call 365-7676 or 810-0820.