Celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King isn’t enough, according to the Kings’ youngest daughter, Bernice King.

The real celebration is living the lives these leaders advocated.

“We’ve been having a great legacy in the life of Coretta and Martin King; what are we going to do with it?” King asked.

“I believe we’re at a time now that my father’s legacy is calling for the people that ... are willing to risk their lives,” said King.

“We have to make a decision that we’re a part of something greater than ourselves.”

King was the keynote speaker at N.C. Central University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium Friday where about 2,000 attended the event.

In her speech, King suggested nonviolent behavior when she referred directly to the Jan. 4 fatal shooting of NCCU graduate student Denita Smith.

“How much longer do we have to witness ... young people losing their lives and innocence by gunshots?” she asked.

King was critical of the entertainment industry and hip-hop culture and said she’s afraid this generation doesn’t see the humiliation of being overtaken by entertainment.

She said ladies should understand they are not “bitches and whores,” and men should understand they “are not dogs ... but princes.”

King also instructed students not to carry financial debts because it distracts focus.

“We’ve got to redirect our energy and raise our standards,” she said. “We are letting others define us, image us, and even brand us.”

According to King, her father was busy trying to decrease the economic gap between the “haves and have nots” before his assassination. She shares his belief that the gap is too big between the rich and the poor.

King said “something is fundamentally wrong” because blacks carry their debts on to younger generations after their deaths and not much has changed since her father’s advocacy.

“Many times we die with out dreams inside of us, our visions inside of us, our artistic abilities inside of us,” King said.

Students from Durham public schools, including James E. Shepard Magnet Middle School and Fayetteville Street School, attended the event.

“They were all focused and attentive,” said Cynthia McCrimmon, an Ivy Prep coordinator for Shepard Middle School, who brought 27 students whom she thought would get a lot out of the program.

According to McCrim-mon, many of her students fall into the hip hop trap King spoke about.

“All they know is the industry of entertainment,” she said.

McCrimmon said one of her female students allows the boys to disrespect her.

“They call her a ‘ho,’ and she answers,” said McCrimmon.