Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on this day in 1968. “Perhaps because we received each piece of news minutes after it happened, we came to feel that we were at the eye of a historical hurricane.”
We last saw the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King early last August, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta—a red brick building on the corner of Jackson Street and Auburn Avenue. His office, in the Sunday-school annex, to the left of the church, smelled of paraffin and linoleum glue. On the bulletin board, children’s prayer cards of Jesus pointing at his heart were pinned above Southern Christian Leadership Conference posters proclaiming the summer’s theme: “Black Is Beautiful.
Word of the assassination reached us while we were working late at our office, and we immediately switched on a television-network special report. Perhaps because we received each piece of news minutes after it happened, we came to feel that we were at the eye of a historical hurricane. Our national leaders appeared before us to guide our responses. “America is shocked and saddened by the brutal slaying tonight of Dr. Martin Luther King,” the President said, in measured tones.
“And then I got into Memphis, and some began to talk about the threats that were out,” Dr. King said. “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.” Dr.
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