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Last year, Palin struck a more cordial note on MLK day, saying “I encourage you to take time to reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King’s efforts to secure freedom and true equality and what those efforts have added to our lives today” in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, across the country, others celebrated Martin Luther King Day by not playing politics.

Hundreds of people filled Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday to remember and reflect on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., who preached at the church.

The service featured prayers, songs, music and speakers. It’s one of the many events across the country honouring King, including parades, marches and service projects.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said there were not many states that can boast a native son that merits a national holiday, but added: “we Georgians can.”

Deal said this year he would work with state legislators to find an appropriate way to honour King at the Georgia Capitol, which drew a standing ovation from the audience. He did not give any specifics.

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, activist and entertainer Harry Belafonte planned to deliver the keynote address for the 28th annual Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium at the University of Michigan’s Hill Auditorium.

In Memphis, Tennessee, where King was assassinated, an audio recording of an interview with King was played at the National Civil Rights Museum. The recording sheds new light on a phone call President John F. Kennedy made to King’s wife

more than 50 years ago.

Historians generally agree Kennedy’s phone call to Coretta Scott King expressing concern over her husband’s arrest in October 1960 — and Robert Kennedy’s work behind the scenes to get King released — helped JFK win the White House.

The reel-to-reel audiotape was discovered by a man cleaning out his father’s attic. The father, an insurance salesman, had interviewed King for a book he was writing, but never completed it and stored the recording with other interviews he’d done.

King was born Jan. 15, 1929, and the federal holiday is the third Monday in January.