Martin Luther King Jr. is often cited as one of the most powerful and popular leaders of the civil rights movement, and Orangeburg community leaders say his work must continue to fit new missions and challenges.

While many history books detail the movement as having begun with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and ended with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, there’s debate about when it began and whether it has ended.

“The last major act of the of that movement was the fight for the King holiday, and that fight was more for the purpose of us having the opportunity on King’s birthday to refocus ourselves on the past and also determine where we go from here,” Denmark resident Dr. Cleveland Sellers says.

Sellers, director of the African-American Studies Program at the University of South Carolina, was an active participant in the civil rights movement. He first met King at Trinity United Methodist Church, where the civil rights leader spoke during his visit to Orangeburg in the late 1950s.

He said King was more like a co-worker and friend to him than he is “the icon that he is today.” Sellers had the opportunity to work with King on several occasions, including as program director of his student nonviolent coordinating committee and during the Mississippi Freedom Summer, Selma Voting Rights Campaign and the Meredith, Miss. March.

He said while there needs to be a refocus on the “extraordinarily courageous” men and women of all races who worked to dismantle segregation and racial discrimination, there also needs to be a continued fight against poverty and the disenfranchisement of the poor and minorities in general.

“I know that Dr. King and the movement were not able to deal with the issue of poverty. We see that same obstacle facing Americans after 39 years. We must continue to be vigilant ... and work on those areas of education, equality and health disparities,” Sellers said. “We must continue to work in creating a sense of hope in our young people and building a legacy that will test their faith ... and ensure that we eliminate poverty in the richest nation in the world. That’s what I think the message is 39 years after the assassination of Dr. King.”

He said while every goal may not be accomplished, it’s still the lives of “ordinary folks who risked everything and made the sacrifice so that we could have the kinds of changes that we have today” which need to be celebrated on King’s birthday.

“Orangeburg is full of those heroes and heroines ... and has a rich movement and history ... as well as South Carolina.

So, Dr. King represents a conduit, a symbol of the African-American community and the struggle. We use his celebration to expose to our young people the legacies of the Esau Jenkinses and the Mojeska Simpkinses ... and all the others,” Sellers said.

“People didn’t lay down, but rolled up their sleeves and continued to stand up for something, including a quality, desegregated education and equal employment opportunities as a result of the civil rights movement,” he added.

Liz Zimmerman Keitt is among those Orangeburg residents who are symbols of the movement and say much work remains to carrying on King’s legacy. She marched with King in Memphis, Nashville and Atlanta.

“He had an influence in everybody’s life and gave us the confidence to continue building bridges for your community. It was not just for one set of people, but all persons who were downtrodden and oppressed,” said Keitt, who remembers the segregated lunch counters and having to get off the street and down in the trenches when approaching whites on the street.

She said King’s message of nonviolent social justice was strongly undergirded by his quiet demeanor, strong faith and deep thinking. She said his penchant for education is mirrored by her own desire to educate children in her community.

Keitt is the founder and director of Project Life: Positeen, a free tutorial program that focuses on youth development.

“King and others, including my parents and teachers, instilled in us to do the thing that I’m doing now. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know whether I’d be giving back to our community. We still don’t do enough of that,” Keitt said.

Orangeburg resident Geraldyne Zimmerman, 95, has been recognized as Orangeburg’s “Citizen of the Year” and has even been awarded the state’s highest honor, the Order of the Palmetto, for her tireless community service. King was among the people she admires.

“I admired his attitude and policy of peace. Even though he was much younger than I was, I would always encourage my young people to take a look at what he had to say and the life he was living and to try to model after him. I thought he was a great young man,” Zimmerman said.

She said King’s nonviolent methods helped to quell much violence during the civil rights movement, while his youth and vitality helped to attract young followers.

Orangeburg resident James “Jim” E. Sulton Sr., 83, who has also been recognized as Orangeburg’s “Citizen of the Year,” worked to bring King to Orangeburg and welcomed him as a guest in his home during the visit. Like King, Sulton is an alumnus of Morehouse College in Atlanta.

“I met him after I left school and came back to Orangeburg to live permanently in 1947. We had a long conversation ... and a large disagreement about the meaning of nonviolence ... and the importance of being able to take abuse without retaliation,” Sulton said.

“I told him I believed in the premise that words don’t harm ... but I was not going to let anybody strike or spit on me without retaliation. He said, ’Mr. Sulton, you can’t do that.’ His general philosophy and quiet determination to get things done had a very lasting impression on me,” said Sulton, who, along with three of his friends, staged the first sit-in at the segregated lunch counter of Orangeburg’s Kress 5&10 store.

“As a result of that, they closed it down that same day and never reopened,” Sulton said.

Orangeburg photographer Cecil Williams is recognized for his poignant coverage of the civil rights movement, including images of Dr. King, with a motion picture camera.

“It was my great pleasure to film Martin Luther King. Any time that I was near an event that I knew he would appear, I picked up my film camera and filmed him,” Williams said.

He said King’s message of nonviolence had advantages and he will be remembered for his great leadership in the movement.

“His nonviolence kept the civil rights movement battles relatively peaceful and orderly, but one of his greatest contributions was that he was able to communicate the goals of the movement to national and international audiences. His speeches were inspirational and moving, and only once in a while in history a person with his great leadership would come along,” Williams said. “Although he didn’t start it, he became the messenger, strategist and symbolic icon for the movement.”

-- T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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