LOXLEY, Ala. — He was born in Atlanta on Jan. 15, 1929, and was killed at the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968.

We still remember him.

That “him” was Martin Luther King Jr., one of the leaders of the modern civil rights movement. Monday was a day set aside to remember him, and members of the Loxley Area Action Group held a march, followed by a scheduled speech by James Lowe Jr., president of Bishop State Community College at the Loxley Civic Center.

The march began at the Loxley Church of God at 9 a.m. and made its way up Highway 59 to the Civic Center. Loxley police stopped traffic on the busy highway and made sure the marchers were safe. Marchers carried posters commemorating King’s life and the civil rights struggle.

While in a wheelchair, Web McBride of Loxley wasn’t worried.

“I’m here to celebrate Martin Luther King,” he said. “Somebody will be pushing my chair.”

Young people still responded to King’s message.

“We’re out to celebrate Martin Luther King,” said Tamira Hollings, a fifth-grade student a Loxley Elementary School. “He was a man who wanted the whole world to be equal.”

That message was not lost on Lashinda Curry, 16, a student at Robertsdale High.

“He asked for freedom,” said Curry. “If it weren't for him, all the people would be in the same places.”

The celebration had heightened significance for many of the adults in the throng because a little over 24 hours later, Barack Obama would be sworn in as the nation’s first African-American president .

“That is something I would have liked to have seen,” said Curry.