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CNN Sunday Morning

Martin Luther King Landmark Opens in Atlanta After Restoration

Aired January 20, 2002 - 07:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: A historic King landmark is open again today in Atlanta. The church where the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was baptized and then later preached has been restored just in time for King holiday celebrations.

Renee Starsicz (ph) of our affiliate station, WXIA, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENEE STARSICZ, WXIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The reopening of this 79-year-old landmark truly something to sing about to those here, here to be a part of history.

CORNELIA EASLEY, CHURCH VISITOR: It's important to me because the dream lives here and everybody should be exposed to it. This is his church.

STARSICZ: The church where Martin Luther King Jr. was baptized. The church where he preached his message of tolerance and non- violence.

REV. C.T. VIVIAN, FORMER KING AIDE: He loved us all. He lived and died for all of us.

STARSICZ: Reverend C.T. Vivian, a civil rights activist and Dr. King's aide welcomed the world back to Ebenezer Baptist Church.

VIVIAN: It speaks to us of a time and a day and an event in the history of this country that was the most important single event of the last half of the 20th century.

CORETTA SCOTT KING, KING'S WIDOW: Service to others is the rent you pay on earth for being human.

STARSICZ: Dr. King's widow joined the celebration. Earlier, she spoke to students at Georgia State University, urging them to keep alive her husband's ideals.

KING: When you serve your community, you are setting a contagious example of caring and compassion.

STARSICZ: This day of events, a day Dr. King would have been proud of.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And that report was from Renee Starsicz of our Atlanta affiliate, WXIA.

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