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Retired Denver pastor remembers Martin Luther King Jr. as “the most amazing man”

Rev. Dr. James Peters told the media in 1968 he was "shocked, but not surprised" about the assassination of the civil rights leader.
Credit: Andy Cross
DENVER,CO--DECEMBER 17TH 2006- Left: the Rev. Richard Battles, Martin Luther King Jr., Gayle Stockham (in glasses) and James D. Peters, in a 1964 photo. THE DENVER POST/ ANDY CROSS (Photo By Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

People gathered in Memphis, Tenn., today to honor the man who was shot and killed there 50 years ago, and a retired pastor from Denver was one of the people to make the trip.

“He was the most amazing man, and carried forth the most amazing mission that I think saved this country from what could have been a worse situation if someone else had been in the leadership of the movement,” said Rev. Dr. James Peters.

Peters, originally from Connecticut, was a founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the 50s and 60s and was one of King's associates.

Here in Denver, he served as a member of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and as pastor of New Hope Baptist church for 28 years.

According to Peters, King knew he would be shot down during the movement, and he asked his representatives to carry on his mission when it happened.

“We did that, we fulfilled that. Ministers across the country who had been identified with Martin followed through on that night when he was killed, and throughout the days that followed,” he said.

Peters estimates that he’s given about 1,000 speeches not only in Colorado and Connecticut but around the country. Many people today don’t realize how bad the civil rights issue was, he said.

“I’m 85 years old now but people are still shocked when I give them the message that I was born in the Deep South near Washington D.C. where we had two school systems,” he said.

Peters spoke about King’s modesty and said he would be disappointed that his name is the one used so often.

“We who knew him and walked with him and loved him know that he was the best answer America had to these kinds of problems,” Peters said. “But he would be disappointed in the wide use of his name as though he were the only one because he recognized there were many that came before him who lifted up the torch of freedom.”

Peters said he hopes young people recognize that even in difficult times, they can achieve great things.

“They can reach the top. That God being with them and Martin Luther King Jr. as the example, they can be anything they want to be in the United States of America,” Peters said.

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