Remembering Dr. King On 50th Anniversary Of His Assassination
50 years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.The city of Montgomery joined the nation in honoring Dr. King, on the anniversary of his death.
Hundreds visited the church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once lead the congregation, some like Johnny Hollis, remembering the day he was killed.
“I believe was at school when the news came across” explained, Hollis. He was in his teens at the time.”That was a sadness that came over me like I had never experienced before”.
Long-time civil rights activists Robert and Jean Graetz, were close friends with Dr. King, working closely with him during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Their annual symposium for ‘race and reconciliation’ was apart of several panels and tributes to MLK hosted by Alabama State University.
“We prayed all the time for his safety” Mrs. Graetz, also recalling the day she learned Dr. King had been murdered. “By this time we were thinking that we were probably moving towards a time of peace” said Mr. Graetz.
The 50 year commemoration of Dr. King’s assassination served as a look back at the past and a charge to continue MLK’s legacy.
“Just keep on fighting and working together with people. This wasn’t something that happened in one city, it’s happening all over and don’t let go of it”! said Mrs . Graetz when asked what advice she would offer to the next generation taking up the fight against racial and social injustice.
The commemoration ended with the opening of a new MLK exhibit at ASU’s National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture.
A long-awaited statue of MLK will soon stand outside of Dr. King’s former church in downtown Montgomery.
It will be built by a local sculptor then unveiled on August 28th, the anniversary of Dr. King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech.
