CINCINNATI — Martin Luther King Jr. Day offers a time to reflect on the civil rights leader's enduring impact and legacy through his activism and leadership.
For Paul Booth Sr., that impact is deeply personal.
The former Cincinnati City Council member talked to us sitting on the same pews at Zion Baptist Church in Avondale where he met Dr. King as a 10-year-old boy when the civil rights icon preached to his father's congregation.
"I remember seeing him and meeting him," Booth said.
After the service, Dr. King visited his house and left Booth with something he would treasure forever. Booth's father had given him a book on the life of Jesus, and he asked Dr. King to sign it.
WATCH: Booth share his first time meeting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"He wrote, 'To Paul, for whom I wish a great future. Martin Luther King Jr.,'" Booth said.
That signature became more than just ink on a page. It became a promise Booth carried into adulthood to lead with courage, compassion and service to others.
"All of my civil rights work, being president of NAACP here and leading other organizations and human relations," Booth said. "Many things that I have done, his life and teachings were interwoven."
Dr. King made several stops across Cincinnati during his lifetime. Booth said he remembers when King spoke during the Progressive National Baptist Convention about humanitarian issues at the Netherland Hilton Hotel.
"My father founded the Progressive National Baptist Convention. It gave Dr. King a platform for the Civil Rights Movement with hundreds and hundreds of Baptists," Booth said.
King also stopped by Cincinnati Gardens to preach to the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He visited the city to support Theodore Berry's Cincinnati City Council campaign and encouraged voter registration.
Booth said King's message still resonates today.
"It's going to have to cause us to sacrifice, to work, to pray and fight, which is what Dr. King did," Booth said.
