Students March 50 Miles to Honor the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death

A group of Mississippi teens are marching 50 miles to Memphis to mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.

Escorted by police cars, and a portable restroom, six middle school, high school and college students, along with two adult mentors, began their March in Mississippi. 

Their plan has been to walk 15 miles a day, and end their journey at the National Civil Rights Museum.

"We are trying to honor MLK’s legacy and teach the guys about racial and economic justice and some more history on civil rights," one of the mentors on the walk, Jarvis Moore, told InsideEdition.com. "We want to challenge them to be leaders of change among their peers."

Other stops include the Mason Temple in Memphis, where King gave his famous "Mountaintop Speech."

They are staying in hotels at night and start the day where they left off the night before.

The kids are on their spring break this week. The walk was the work of the Pearson Foundation, a group that mentors kids.

Wednesday will mark 50 years since King was shot dead while standing on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. 

Pearl High School student Benjamin Rutledge, 18, is the only white student on the walk.  

"I like doing events that challenge me and improve my character, and allow me to meet people too," Rutledge told CBS.

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