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MLK - 40 years ago today

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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Martin Luther King was murdered on this date, 1968.

I was an undergraduate in Ft Worth, TX. When I heard the horrible news, I went to see the janitor of the building where most of my classes were held; he was a black gentleman around 70 years old, who always marched proudly in the Veterans Day parades in his WW2 uniform. In those days, black people weren't allowed to be students or faculty at the university, and could only hold menial positions. When I walked over to him, who was sitting in a small wooden chair, I saw him silently crying, holding his Bible. I took his hand and offered my sympathies about King's death.

He looked up at me and said "people have been sowing the seeds for years and years - and now they're gonna start reaping what they sowed". I'll never forget him telling me that.

This was a *really* sad day, and it started a long period of "questioning the system", for many people, including me.

Tom
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.[/QUOTE]

We're not there yet...but we're making progress.

Full Speech:

https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
 
A terrible time!! I was in college in Pittsburgh for the aftermath! :eeek:
Riots, curfews and troops on the streets as "the Hill" burned!
 
Yeah, Mikey, the lid kinda came off in many places. The flames of that time are still smolderin' too.

I was a HS senior in '68. Working as a photographer for a local paper as well. Acutely aware the things I was "seeing" were the beginning of change... I had hope it would be significant. I've been somewhat disappointed in how the play's gone so far. On both "sides" of the issue. feh. It's all so frustrating. :wall:
 
Rioting in most of the major southern cities. They were burning cars in Richmond, I remember.

And later, Bobby Kennedy, too. I couldn't believe it, he would have made a great leader.

Still lots of work to be done. I wonder if King and Kennedy would be pleased with our progress?
 
Yea, that whole year was pretty terrible. Tet in January, MLK's assassination in April and RFK's in June, riots all over the country, the Chicago Democratic convention in August, and Nixon winning in November.

But there was one personal bright spot for me--I got married in July, right in the middle of all the hate and violence! Fortunately, I am still married to the same woman, we had three sons together, and we will be celebrating our 40th this summer.

So, even in the worst of times, good survives, even if we haven't made the progress that I think both MLK and RFK would have expected.
 
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