Pennylynn Webb: COLUMN: Carrying MLK, Jr.'s torch

Jan. 13—In March 2019, I stood at 450 Mulberry Street in Memphis, site of the Lorraine Motel and the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It was late in the day, with the sun setting, as I took in the historically hallowed ground.

In my mind, I could see Dr. King out on the second-floor balcony, in front of Room 306, surrounded by friends, laughing together and King telling musician Ben Branch, "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."

Those would be King's last words. He was fatally shot by James Earl Ray at 6:01 p.m. April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. King died at St. Jospeh's Hospital at 7:05 p.m.

King had traveled to Memphis on March 29, 1968, to support black sanitary public works employees, represented by the AFSCME Local 1733. His flight to Memphis was delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. The workers had been on strike since March 12, 1968, for higher wages and better treatment.

On April 3, 1968 King addressed a rally, delivering his famed "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ.

During his stay in Memphis, King and his fellow civil rights crusader, Ralph Abernathy, stayed in Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey. King, Abernathy, and their entourage stayed in this room so often that it was known as the King-Abernathy suite. Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was also present, has said King's last words on the balcony before his assassination were to Branch.

The Lorraine Motel has become a symbol for the civil rights movement. In 1982, a local non-profit group saved the site from foreclosure for use as America's first civil rights museum. It was renovated to its current state in 1991.

Those that take the tour see the motel room as it was the day King died.

Across the street from the hotel is the National Civil Rights Museum; on the wall of part of the building is a mural of icons of the Civil Rights Movement.

I found the entire experience moving.

As I stood in the parking lot, a sobering reverence for those that died there, and those that died for the cause, came over me. I was standing on hallowed ground. City sounds were drowned out by my inner awe. I stood there for a long time in silence and thought about my life and how different it might have been if it weren't for King working to end segregation.

I thought about the many friends I have today, that I might not have had the opportunity to know had the United States not changed by desegregating. The injustices that might have continued had he not fought for us to speak up and take action.

His advocacy for the working class and impoverished made a big difference. Today, his words still resound as meaningful as ever.

Martin Luther King, Jr. died eight years before I was born, but his life and legacy has influenced my life in more ways than I can name and I'm grateful for all that he accomplished.

Throughout my life, I can remember hearing his unique cadence of speech delivering, "I have a dream." I'm not sure I ever really understood how important that dream was, how deeply meaningful his dream was for all of us until I stood in that parking lot where he was shot.

If you ever get the opportunity to visit the Lorraine, do so. It costs nothing to stand outside the motel and view the spot where a great man was taken from this world too soon, with too much left to do.

King paved the way to the promised land with everything he had. His torch may have fallen, but it never went out. It is our turn to carry it now.

I hope you will take time to honor and remember Dr. King Monday, Jan. 15 on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

PennyLynn Webb is the editor of the Palestine Herald-Press and an award winning news writer and columnist. You can email her at pwebb@palestinerherald.com.