Thought of the Jay!: Long Live the King!

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. The man who dedicated his life to nonviolent protest was killed by a sniper’s bullet.

Dr. King’s life has left a lasting legacy. His lifetime of work towards racial equality impacted not only a generation but the history of an entire nation. From 1957 through 1968 Dr, King spoke over twenty-five hundred times promoting his message of equality and justice. His “I Have a Dream Speech” is known the world over. In a 1999 survey, the speech was ranked the #1 political speech of the 20th century.

While the “I Have a Dream Speech”, delivered on August 28, 1968, was designed to promote racial equality and end institutional racism it has done so much more. The speech has become an ionic symbol of the American spirit. All Americans can relate to the positive can do spirit that dreams of a brighter future.

"Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

On this anniversary of his untimely death take a few minutes to watch the videos below. The first video is of of Dr. King's famous last speech, “I've Been to the Mountaintop." The second video is of Walter Cronkite announcing to the nation that Dr. King had been assassinated.

“I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech: