Actors Michael B. Jordan and Chris Rock celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. by giving speeches at a New York church associated with the civil rights leader on Monday (18Jan16).

Hundreds gathered at Manhattan's Riverside Church to mark Martin Luther King Day, the holiday in honour of the late Baptist minister, as part of the #MLKNow event.

Michael and Chris joined artists and community activists at the church as they gave readings and took part in discussions and musical performances dedicated to the civil rights movement.

The Creed star read from a piece of writing by Fred Hampton, a founder of the Black Panthers, calling on activists to join together to fight racism, according to CBS New York.

"We've got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire," he read. "But we say you put out fire best with water. We say you don't fight racism with racism. We're going to fight racism with solidarity."

Funnyman Chris read a passage by African-American author and poet James Baldwin.

"Well, the black man has functioned in the white man's world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar, and as he moves out of his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations," he told the crowd.

King famously delivered a sermon at the church in 1967 opposing American involvement in the Vietnam War. He was assassinated a year later in 1968.