PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Events around the city celebrated and honored  Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. 

An event was held at the Oregon Convention Center called I AM 2018: A call to action for racial and economic justice.  The event included public service employees, community leaders, labor activists and members of the faith community.

Two different marches honoring King began Wednesday afternoon — one in downtown Portland and another at King School Park in Northeast Portland.  

The latter, hosted by Don’t Shoot Portland, started at 4 p.m. with a rally, featuring local artists. A #ReclaimMLK march began after the rally. Reed College students and Chris Riser, a teacher at Ockley Green Middle School who was placed on leave for leading a walkout on Feb. 9, led the rally and march. Portland Public Schools recently announced firing Riser would not be an appropriate course of action, reversing a previous recommendation by the district’s human resources department. 

Ockley students were also in attendance. 

Then, at 5 p.m. in downtown, a march called “The Movement Isn’t Over” began, starting at the Japanese-American Historical Plaza. The march, hosted by the Albina Ministerial Alliance and other local groups, finished at the Martin Luther King Jr. Statue at Northeast MLB Boulevard and Northeast Holladay Street. A rally followed the march.

“We’re calling on all people of faith in the common good to gather, march and re-dedicate themselves to the unfinished work of the original Civil Rights Movement and Poor People’s Campaign,” the Albina Ministerial Alliance said in a press release. “Let us remember that the movement isn’t over, and there is still much to be done in order to make King’s dream of a true Beloved Community possible.”