“Honestly, you can’t celebrate the King holiday and not celebrate Coretta Scott King,” she said.

Bernice King said it was a very exciting moment for her whole family when President Ronald Reagan declared a national holiday on her father’s birthday. She said it was especially meaningful to her mother, who had been working to maintain Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy even before he was assassinated. 

She also said her father’s birthday falling at the beginning of the year is one of the most crucial moments in the country. She said it provides the country with a “measuring point.” 

“To really look at where we are in terms of creating a more just, humane, equitable, peaceful society,” Bernice King said.

She also said this year was a critical moment to acknowledge those from the civil rights movement as racial tensions have increased since last summer’s protests against police brutality. 

“We need to salute and celebrate those who served without weapons to save this nation from literal bloodshed, blood baths,” Bernice King said. “And to give this nation a soul and a heart because had it not been for that movement in the ‘50s and ‘60s, we would be a totally heartless and soulless nation.”

Bernice King said she sees herself as a bridge in many ways, including between the civil rights movement and the new movement. 

“I have come to realize that that’s my calling, to bridge,” she said.

The event also featured messages from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin.