41.1 F
Memphis
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Buy now

spot_img

“A Devastating Moment:” Former Memphis students, teachers relive Dr. King’s final day

Marta W. Aldrich, Caroline Bauman and Laura Faith Kebede, Chalkbeat Tennessee

Memphis has a special, painful relationship with the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

It was here, on April 4, 1968, that the iconic civil rights leader was assassinated. For so many Memphis residents who lived through those shocking and frightening days, King’s death was a life-changing moment.

To mark the 50th anniversary of King’s death, Chalkbeat wanted to know: How did students react to his killing? How did teachers respond? What was the mood like in Memphis schools during the days before and after? To find out, we spoke with four people who were students and educators at the time.

In 1968, Johnnie Turner was a teacher at Hamilton Elementary School and served on the board of the local NAACP chapter. She was in the crowd at Mason Temple on April 3, the night before King’s death, when he delivered his prophetic final speech.

Wayne Ingram was a student who walked with classmates from Hamilton High School to follow King in a downtown march a week before the leader’s death. Their trek from school was peaceful, but the march behind King turned violent, with stores being looted and police killing a black teenager.

Yvonne Acey was a community organizer who taught at Carver High School, where civil rights activists used her classroom after hours to coordinate protests.

Her husband, David, a graduate of Melrose High School, was heading up the first black student association at Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis.

In this story, we relive the days before and after King’s murder through their own words. To set the stage, here is the message sent to King by organizers of a sanitation workers strike in October 1967 imploring him to join their crusade:

To read the rest of this fascinating story, visit our media partners at www.chalkbeat.org/tn.

Related Articles

Stay Connected

21,507FansLike
2,634FollowersFollow
17,200SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest Articles