DUBLIN, Ga. — In Dublin, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was celebrated all weekend long.
It started Saturday with the 28th Annual Dublin-Laurens Black Festival Committee's MLK Parade.
First African Baptist Church also had its own celebration on Sunday.
In 1944, a teenage Dr. King gave his first public speech at their church, when he was in town for an oratorical contest.
"Although the world is celebrating MLK, none of the world can say what First African Baptist Church can say and that is as a teen, he spoke publicly first right here," Pastor Keith Anderson said.
The church displays the first speech Dr. King gave, called The Negro and the Constitution.
The full speech is also written on a brick wall right across from the church, at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument Park.
Anderson said he hopes people don't forget the message of that speech, decades later.
"Regardless of your race, you know, you're still entitled to be able to dial in with all of the great things that America has to offer," he said.
And while Anderson said there's still work to be done for equal rights, he's proud of how far the city has come since Dr. King visited Central Georgia.
"We're just grateful that Dublin has such a history of having been a part of Civil Rights, believing that all men are created equal," Anderson said.
And that message of equality was heard loud and clear at their Sunday service. The choir lead the congregation with the song, On the Battlefield for My Lord.
Anderson shared Dr. King's quotes with the church throughout his sermon, to remind everyone that the rights we enjoy today shouldn't be taken for granted.
"I don't think we understand the full magnitude of what he sacrificed, what he endured so that we can enjoy what we have today," Anderson said.
Several places in central Georgia are hosting events honoring his legacy with events on Monday.