LOXLEY, Alabama — “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

That is just part of a 17-minute speech delivered in August of 1963 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The speech would later become known as the “I Have A Dream” speech and would become synonymous with the Civil Rights leader.

Every year on the third Monday in January, people around the country gather to celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, which is celebrated near his birthday on Jan. 15.

Introduced as legislation by U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

For the seventh straight year, the Loxley Area Action Group celebrated on Monday beginning with a march from the Loxley Church of God to the Loxley Civic Center. About 50 residents participated in the march with more than 85 attending the program, entitled "A Rising Tide of Color," at the Civic Center.

The march, which commemorates the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery that created National support for federal voting rights legislation, was followed by a short program at the Civic Center.

The program, presided over by 13-year-old Marlin McBride, featured youth-led vignettes, along with praise dance performed by the Divine Dancers of the Master. Dr. Robert White, professor of humanities at Alabama State University, was the guest speaker.