On 4 April 1968 at 6.10 pm, a sniper assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jnr while he was standing on the balcony of Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. Dr King had come to Memphis, to support striking sanitation workers.
He was only 39 years old. This year, he would be gone longer than he walked on earth. On 4 April 2008 we commemorate the 40th Anniversary of his passing.
Birth of Martin Luther King Jnr in Atlanta, Georgia
Martin Luther King, Jr. was born at noon on Tuesday, January 15, 1929 at the family home, 501 Auburn Avenue, North East, Atlanta in Georgia.
Ordained at Ebenezer Baptist Church and Marriage to Coretta Scott
Martin Luther King, Jr. entered the Christian ministry and was ordained in February 1948 at the age of nineteen at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia. He married Coretta Scott in 1953.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Dr. King was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He was elected President of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization that was responsible for the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956 (It lasted 381 days). In 1963 Dr Martin Luther King Jnr led a massive march on Washington DC where he delivered his now famous "I have a dream" speech.
Civil Right Leader Receives Nobel Peace Prize
Dr. King received numerous awards for his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. Among them the Nobel Peace Prize which he received at age 35, in 1964.
MLK Historic Sites in Atlanta, Georgia
Today the MLK National Historic Site, King's boyhood home, Ebenezer Baptist Church and the King Center for Non-Violent Social Change are all within a short walk of each other in the “Sweet Auburn” area of Atlanta, Georgia.
Martin Luther King Jr Day is Celebrated on the third Monday in January each year.
Assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr
MLK was in Memphis, Tennessee early April 1968. The evening before, he gave the prophetic "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech to the sanitation workers who were on strike.
It was early evening on the 4th and he a few friends and aides were standing on the balcony discussing the meeting that night.
Reverend Jesse Jackson was of one of the people on that balcony of Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel with Dr King when the single shot rang out from the former Main Street Rooming House across Mulberry street.
"He had just bent over. I reckon if he had been standing up he would not have been hit in the face," said Rev Jackson.
Martin Luther King was dead at 39.
James Earl Ray – Alleged Assassin
After riots across the country and a massive manhunt, James Earl Ray was arrested and brought to trial for the assassination of Dr. King. On March 9, 1969, he entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to ninety-nine years. He later recanted and said it was a government conspiracy. Dr King’s family believed him.
Dr. King’s funeral services were held on April 9, 1968 at Ebenezer Baptist Church and on the campus of Morehouse College, with the President of the United State proclaiming a day of mourning and flags being flown at half-staff.
Lorraine Motel - National Civil RightsMuseum
Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin and many other famous people stayed at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee, but on 4 April 1968 it became known as the place where MLK was assassinated.
Today the Lorraine Motel houses the National Civil Rights Museum, which is to be the core location of the 40th anniversary celebrations.
Sources:
Biography of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr - The King Centre
Chronology of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr’s Life
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