To mark the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Junior's assassination, Riverside Church in New York City is planning a year of events called "Beyond the Dream: Living King's Legacy" (beyondthedream50.org) starting in April.

"As one of the most progressive and social-justice-focused churches in the U.S., our connection to him and our mutual championing of justice causes is one of the things we are most proud of," said Brian Simpson, communications director.

To which King historian and Vanderbilt University Prof. Lewis Baldwin adds: King "understood Riverside's place in the long and dramatic struggle for freedom and human dignity in this country."