Many people pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. with speeches and marches, but a group of people did so through poems, songs, comedy and dance Monday night.

The second annual tribute to the civil rights leader at Miami University Hamilton Downtown drew a crowd of about 30 people, who ducked chilling temperatures for a night of warm spirits. One of those was Randy Bell of Hamilton, who read aloud his poem “And a Child Shall Lead Them.”

“I tried to write about the cycle of birth and decay and renewal, and I thought about how applicable that would be to Martin Luther King and the message of hope. We go through these periods of being more and less hopeful. So the poem is basically about the renewal of hope embodied in a child,” he said.

Bell drew from a diverse array of influences, including Charlie Chaplin’s movie “The Great Dictator,” reggae singer Bob Marley and some of King’s own speeches, including his last in Memphis, Tenn., before his assassination in 1968.

After that, “I would have felt like hope was lost,” Bell said. “But the message remains effective to us in every generation, and it’s embodied in (King).”

The host of the evening was Janine Nash of Cincinnati, who goes by the stage name “Lady J.” She quoted King often, saying “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

She also told the audience, “We all go what we go through throughout the week. The job, the kids, whatever is it we’re struggling with. It’s nice to come together and just let that loose for a little bit and shake it off.”

As the event wrapped up, Nash said, “I am just so very thankful to be around so many talented people that come from so many walks of life. We all have a purpose and a talent and a gift, and I just enjoy it when anybody comes out and uses that gift.”