Martin Luther King Jr. Day sunrise celebration - KOAM TV 7

Martin Luther King Jr. Day sunrise celebration

by JORDAN AUBEY

Four Staters beat Monday's sunrise for a special breakfast celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is the 25th anniversary of the federal holiday named for the late civil rights leader.

King would have turned 82 this past weekend.

In Joplin, residents gathered for a morning meal at 7 a.m at Missouri Southern State University.

This is the 10th year of MLK Breakfast, a time for fellowship and to watch videos of Martin Luther King Jr's life.

Today's guest speaker from Joplin says the fight for equality among different races and religions will never end.

"We've seen very little as far as change," says Pastor Sam Nero of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church.  "There's things that have happened but the way we accept those changes is the problem that we're having.  There's still the same kind of hatred and challenges that we have of people accepting different things that are going to change."

MLK celebrations at Missouri Southern continue today with volunteers working with community organizations both on and off campus.