If ever there was a man who had reason to hate, it was Martin Luther King Jr.

But instead of hating, he brought a message of peace and love.

Jackie Pons, superintendent of Leon County Schools, described the civil-rights giant this way to a crowd of about 600 at a breakfast Friday that honored King and 92 students from local schools.

"Dr. King taught us to think with peace and vision," Pons said. "How many of the world’s problems could be solved today if we did that?"

Pons was the keynote speaker at the breakfast, one of several citywide celebration events planned through Monday, the official observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Pons told how King, six months before his April 4, 1968, assassination in Memphis, Tenn., spoke to a group of middle-school students about "life’s blueprint."

Everyone, Pons paraphrased King, should have a blueprint that serves as a pattern throughout life.

"It’s amazing how Dr. King’s advice is as alive today as it was 40 years ago," Pons said.

He also paid tribute to the late Rev. R.N. Gooden, a Tallahassee minister and civil-rights activist.

The breakfast, sponsored by Leon County Schools and the Tallahassee branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was emceed by former Superintendent Bill Montford.

D.J. Wright, executive director of elementary schools, and Merry Ortega, executive director of middle and high schools, introduced outstanding student representatives from each school in the Leon County Schools district.

"When you look at these students, you see what a great, bright future there is," Wright said. "These young people put our dreams into action every day."