The Americans have marked 50 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, a day seared into the national consciousness that transformed the Civil Rights leader into a symbol of the fight for racial equality.

In a country still torn over issues of race and class, demonstrators on Wednesday rallied in Memphis, Tennessee, where the pastor and Nobel Peace Prize winner was killed on the balcony of his motel by a white supremacist.

Rallies were also held in Washington, DC, where he delivered his historic “I have a dream” speech.