Early evening, April four
A shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

--U2

Today is the 57th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King in Memphis. He was in town to rally support for striking sanitation workers. The evening before, MLK gave his "I've been to the Mountaintop" speech at the Church of God in Christ Headquarters before a crowd of two thousand.

Excerpt plays in the post (3:28).

#MLK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLdWqP8mczw&ab_channel=TheMartinLutherKing%2CJr.CenterforNonviolentSocialChange

One thing that isn't discussed very often is the fallout from the assassination at the Lorraine Hotel. A good number of songs were written in that same building over the years and released on Stax.

After Rev. Dr. King perished on a balcony, the days of songwriters and musicians creating at the hotel where they stayed ended as well.

We must remember this was an attack on an entire culture, and not just an attempt to extinguish a single figure in the Civil Rights Movement.

Today In Labor History April 4, 1968: James Earl Ray assassinated Martin Luther King at the Lorraine Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee. King was in Memphis to support the sanitation workers’ strike that had started in February, 1968, for better working conditions and higher pay. The strike began 2 weeks after 2 workers were crushed to death when their truck malfunctioned, intensifying the already high level of frustration and anger over working conditions and safety. King led a protest march on March 28. Over 20,000 kids cut class to join the demonstration. Some members of the march began smashing downtown windows and looting. The cops intervened with mace, tear gas, clubs and live gunfire, killing 16-year-old Larry Paine, who had his hands in the air when he was shot. On April 3, one day before his assassination, King gave his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech.

Thinking about #MLK

#A-ZQuotes #MLK

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

This is not a popular opinion, but I have come to believe that social movements do not ultimately bring systematic change. Not be a contrarian, but I think it takes the right individual that sparks the final measure that brings about real, fundamental change. Let me give some examples.

Martin Luther King, Jr. I know he didn't do it on his own, but he was a singular force, and that is authentic.

From fiction:

Gabriel Bell from the famous Star Trek: DS9 two-parter, "Past Tense" and the Bell Riots. Yes, he also very much did not do it on his own, but he was a force to be reckoned with.

John Sheridan from Babylon 5. He also did not do it on his own, he had both an immediate crew and an extended crew, but he was hands on and even died only to come back and finish the job. He ultimately made the decisions that changed history.

I know how generic I sound. I know I seem like I lack faith in the collective. Well, having lived with severe disability for 27 years, yes, I do lack faith in people at large. I know what you are willing to do to me when no one else is watching. I know it takes a single soul, the right person who possesses the qualities that the collective claims to be in favor of, but they are never actually capable of those moral values, not personally, they are not. It will take one leader to bring change. The group cannot do it.