An activist, a librarian, a politician and a pastor discussed the message and legacy of an American civil rights leader yesterday.

They spoke inside the Bermuda National Library exactly 56 years after the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

Glenn Fubler, of Imagine Bermuda, said Dr King’s spirit of solidarity “has been alive and well in Bermuda and the same spirit exists in all of us”.

“It is much more than personality; it is about living up to the best human beings that we are,” he added.

Mr Fubler encouraged people to embrace this spirit and “break bread” with those outside their normal circles.

He explained: “This is an opportunity, on the day that we lost the physical life of Dr King, that we can use to reconnect, or connect with people we have never connected with before.

“In doing that, we make for a better society and community; that sense of human solidarity is something that’s essential.”

Several people are taking part in the breaking bread initiative, including Georgette Prime-Godwin, pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church, who encouraged people to “forgo your Bible study, forgo your prayer meeting and go out and serve your community because a church is really most effective outside her walls”.

Opposition senator Dwayne Robinson said the One Bermuda Alliance looks forward “to participating in this event organised by Mr Fubler and hopes to see the community participate in it as well”.

Joanne Brangman, director of Libraries and Archives, discussed an upcoming project that will encourage young people to share their thoughts about Dr King’s speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.

Dr King delivered this speech on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he died, at Riverside Baptist Church in New York.

Ms Brangman said: “When you look at all the things going on in our community and you hear constantly that people are keeping quiet, is there a way to use this speech to encourage young people to break the silence?”