Shirley Payne Page counts herself as one of numerous heroes inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the years since his death.

“One hundred thousand unknown heroes,” Page estimates. “Don’t let the dreams of those heroes die.”

Page, one of the first five black students to graduate from Olive Branch High School after its integration in 1966, shared her experiences as part of a family active in the civil rights movement during a communitywide celebration of King’s legacy at Vicksburg Auditorium Monday.

Dominant throughout her remembrance were images of everyday struggles she and family members fought to receive a quality education in the days of segregation.

Recounted for 150 people in the audience were the days of poll taxes and onerous exams given to blacks who attempted to vote, one of which featured questions asking blacks to interpret the state Constitution.

“Any answer they gave was incorrect,” Page said.

Her family and others in Olive Branch fostered relationships with white civil rights workers who came to Mississippi in the mid-1960s to register black citizens to vote, Page said, among them Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, killed in 1964 by Ku Klux Klan members.

Her father, Buddy Payne, and several uncles once escorted her high school bus to safety after it was attacked by a gang of white students.

Page, now a senior accountant with Memphis City Schools, said several cousins attended schools in northwest Mississippi and Memphis in the late 1950s, depending on how many grades the schools offered.

The overriding message of the King legacy was one of nonviolence and tolerance, Page said.

“Our changes were step by step,” Page said, directing her words to young people in the audience. “There were people who fought for you, died for you. Not all of them were black.”

Page is a 1972 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where she earned degrees in business administration and accounting. She was introduced by young Aaron Terrett, one of a host of young people who participated in the program. Others were:

* Master of Ceremonies Darryl Harris, a Vicksburg High School senior.

* The Vicksburg High School JROTC color guard.

* The Delta GEMS Creme de la Creme Girls Club, several of whom performed a praise dance.

* Marquis Goodwin, a sixth-grader at South Park Elementary who performed “Precious Lord.”

* Amanda McDaniel, a Warren Central High School senior and winner of an oratorical contest sponsored by the Mu XI Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She presented an essay in response to the question, “What Would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Say If He Were Alive Today,” one that centered on morals and prayer among young people.

Members of the Cedar Grove Baptist Church choir also performed, singing “Ezekiel Stopped The Wheel” and “Fighting For The Lord.”

Monday’s event was the 22nd annual evening program. Members of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Day Committee are Isiah Charleston, Debra Goodman, Luline Green, Bobbie Bingham Morrow, Alma I. Smith and Linda D. Thomas.

Also listed as members of the committee are the Mississippi Chapter of Blacks in Government and the Vicksburg branch of the NAACP.

Earlier in the day was the annual scholarship breakfast of the Omicron Rho Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha with U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate as speaker, followed by a downtown parade.

King, who visited Vicksburg multiple times during his ministry, was killed in Memphis in 1968.