From these same steps nearly a half-century ago, Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned a world moncler jackets in which "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers," in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

Across the country — from the beaches of Florida to the monuments in the nation's capital to the high hills of Washington state — Americans gathered Monday to commemorate the slain civil rights leader's peaceful spirit. Many spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day volunteering in their communities or speaking out about inequalities that persist in education and elsewhere in America.

Others visited the recently dedicated memorial to King on the National Mall in Washington.

At a ceremony in the nation's capital, officials and activists laid three wreaths in front of King's stone statue — the only monument on the mall dedicated to an American individual who wasn't president — as several attendees softly sang "We Shall Overcome," an anthem of the civil rights movement.

At the memorial, a woman read aloud King's quotations — such as "Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope" — to her grandson. A Christian youth group sang "This Little Light of Mine," with civil rights activist Al Sharpton joining in the impromptu song.

Many recalled the changes America has undergone since the day King delivered his "I Have http://www.cheapmonclerjacketsfinder.com a Dream" speech in 1963 at the height of the civil rights movement.

King's "message of hope and peace has permeated around the world," said Barbara Duncan of Washington. Duncan said she'd participated in the 1963 March on Washington, led by King, and that even as a 10-year-old the message that "I really am my brother's keeper" had resonated with her.

In King's birthplace of Atlanta, employees of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change had spent nearly a year preparing for Monday's events, said Steve Klein, the center's communications coordinator. The flagship memorial service — televised in Atlanta — for King is in that city, drawing hundreds of thousands of viewers annually, he said.

"The main thing on Dr. Martin Luther King Day is to engage in a community service project, to do something to help some people in need in every community in America," Klein said.

Members of City Year — a national organization that enlists young adults to work in urban schools for a year — spearheaded community projects in 21 cities, including Miami, Philadelphia and Sacramento, Calif. Jeffrey Franco, the executive director of the group's Washington office, said such initiatives aimed to help build what King described as a "beloved community."Moncler women boots cheap sale, 2011 moncler winter boots outlet.

Young Lee, co-founder of the Pinkberry frozen yogurt chain, has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a June 2011 assault on a transient on a 101 Freeway off-ramp.

Police say Lee was stopped at a light when he was approached by a man seeking money. Words were exchanged, and Lee and another man in the car chased the homeless man and assaulted him with a tire iron.

"It's inappropriate for the LAPD and D.A. to make their arguments in the press," said Lee's criminal defense attorney, Philip Kent Cohen. "As the evidence comes out, the reality will be much different than has been presented."

Cohen said there were a total of six people in Lee's car. The victim "made explicit threats as if he had a weapon," Cohen said.

"All of the people in the car felt at risk and felt threatened," Cohen said. "All of this will be flushed out in court."

Cohen said that his client has cooperated with LAPD detectives from the beginning. The lawyer said Lee contacted investigators as soon as he found out that they had visited his Malibu home and issued a warrant for his arrest.

Lee was on a previously cheap moncler scheduled business trip to Asia and Europe at the time. Cohen sa