Dr. King remembered in NH and UK

Gov. Kelly Ayotte delivers her speech during the 21st annual Keeping the Dream Alive Dinner Celebration on Jan. 20. Telegraph photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON
NASHUA – Although Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is well known for his leadership in America’s Civil Rights Movement, his words and legacy continue to have an impact on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
British Consul General to New England David Clay remembered the scene when word reached England that King had been assassinated in April 1968.
“Thousands of people marched through central London to St. Paul’s Church to pay their respects,” he said during the 21st annual Keeping the Dream Alive Dinner Celebration on Jan. 20. “He inspired a generation of campaigners for racial justice.”
Clay also said King received an honorary doctorate from Newcastle University in November 1967. Newcastle was the only university in the United Kingdom to award King with an honorary degree.
“It’s not hard to see his influence,” said Clay. “We in the UK owe him a huge debt of thanks.”

British Consul General to New England David Clay delivers his speech during the 21st annual Keeping the Dream Alive Dinner Celebration on Jan. 20. Telegraph photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON
Gov. Kelly Ayotte spoke about King’s relentless advocacy for passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
At the time, King was only in his mid-30s.
“He did all this at a very young age,” said Ayotte.
She also called attention to the fact that King mentioned New Hampshire in his “I Have A Dream” speech where he famously said: “Let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.”
“It was a great honor that New Hampshire was mentioned,” she said, adding that King will forever be a “hero of our country.”
Richard McKenna, president of the British American Business Council of New England, recalled taking a boat ride to Bimini in the western Bahamas. At the time, McKenna was joined by Ansil Saunders, who served 14 years as the chairman of the Progressive Liberation Party.
McKenna said Saunders took King to Bonefish Creek in Bimini to write his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Saunders later erected a statue of King in Bimini’s mangroves.
- Gov. Kelly Ayotte delivers her speech during the 21st annual Keeping the Dream Alive Dinner Celebration on Jan. 20. Telegraph photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON
- British Consul General to New England David Clay delivers his speech during the 21st annual Keeping the Dream Alive Dinner Celebration on Jan. 20. Telegraph photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON