Today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. At 6:01 pm on April 4th in Memphis, Tennessee at the Lorraine Hotel, MLK was shot by James Earl Ray. MLK had been standing on the second floor balcony. The bullet went through his right cheek; smashing his jaw and then traveled down his spinal cord and was lodged in his shoulder. MLK was pronounced dead at 7:05 pm at St. Joseph’s Hotel. He was thirty-nine years old. MLK has been dead longer than he was alive.
The night before he had delivered what is now called his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech at the Masonic Temple to sanitation workers who had been on a 65 day strike for the right to unionize. That day, MLK had been held up in Atlanta due to a bomb threat aimed at him on his flight to Memphis. The anonymous caller said “Your airline brought Martin Luther King to Memphis, and when he comes again a bomb will go off and he will be assassinated.” According to reports, the pilot of the Eastern Airlines flight announced to all of the passengers on board that the flight was being held up because of the bomb threat to MLK. In addition, MLK was struggling with his mission of non-violence in the growing support for the black-power movement and the furvor of the left and counterculture. Several biographers have also documented that MLK suffered from bouts of depression and was overcoming a season of estrangement from the White House because of his anti-Vietnam stance and the disillusionment from young Black activists who advocated more radical and violent measures.
On the evening of April 3rd, MLK tried to beg off speaking at the Masonic Temple but his friend and colleague Reverend Ralph Abernathy pushed him to speak. Reflecting on the recent threat against his life and perhaps attempting to lift himself out of the despair and doubt he had experience over the last year, MLK ended what would be his last speech with the following eerily prophetic words:
“Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
As news spread of MLK’s assassination, rioting was reported in at least 110 American cities, resulting in $50 million in destruction and the death of 39 people. Over 22,000 federal troops and 34,000 national guard were dispersed to areas to assist local police. The worst riots occurred in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, DC. Many neighborhoods devastated by the riots have taken these past forty years passed to recover. You can still see the evidence in the burned out “riot corridors” of Chicago and Washington, DC.
MLK’s assassination was one of a series of events that occurred in 1968, a year that changed and as author Mark Kurlansky has said “rocked” the world. It was a watershed year where around the world people were questioning both their vision of their governments and their selves. Forty years later, we are still feeling the effects of 1968 and it is eerie to find ourselves in parallels themes and events from that time. Yet there doesn’t appear to be the outrage and frustration that is apparent in the writings and images from 1968. There is a desire for change, but there seems to be atrophy on the part of at least the American public. Or is that we aren’t looking in the right places? Are social and political changes being driven not by ideology but by economics? Is it because we are in a war that isn’t a war and that Americans haven’t been told they have to sacrifice their lives for in the name of democracy? I don’t mean to end an entry with so many questions, but the memorializing and speculation on the loss of MLK that is going to occur today is only the beginning of a year-long reflection that will occur over the next year on the year 1968. As revolutionary as 1968 has been betrayed, it was a year of much loss, destruction and set backs.
More complete historical coverage of the assassination and the life of MLK I highly recommend checking out the Atlantic Constitution Journal's website. They have really great images and photographs. Here's the link: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/martin-luther-king-index.html
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