(RALEIGH) -- North Carolina state employees held their traditional Martin Luther King Day observance program on the Friday before the holiday. Hundreds packed into Raleigh's First Baptist Church for the ceremony. Governor Bev Perdue, in her remarks, said that the slain civil rights leader -- were he alive today -- would still be fighting against injustice.

"If he walked down the streets of Raleigh or went to work with you, or he read the paper or listened to television, I believe he'd stand up and say 'The work is not finished,'" she said.

Ambassador James Joseph, who was appointed by former president Bill Clinton as ambassador to South Africa, was the keynote speaker for the annual program.

If he were alive today, Monday would be Dr. King's 83rd birthday.