tribute to Dr. King

I feel as though I don't have as much of a right to share sentiments about Dr. King as many. But honestly, my life has been impacted in an immense way because of his work. I was only 9 years old when he was assassinated, but I remember it vividly. I was growing up in a racist neighborhood in South St. Louis. There were no African Americans in our neighborhood, in our schools or, for goodness sake, in our churches. I remember kids calling him by inappropriate names. I recall them making jokes about his death. And I remember my sophomore year of high school when the concept of forced busing was introduced to our school. It was literally a riot.

Had Dr. King not lived and worked on this earth, I am afraid that we may still be facing some of these ugly issues in our country. In reality, we still do face these issues, but thanks to heroes like Martin Luther King, there is improvement.

I personally saw Dr. King's murderer. When in college I visited Brushy Mountain State Penetentiary in Tennesse. One of the guards pointed him out to us, across the prison yard. One man who changed history. Our lives were changed.

The video included is Dr. King last speech, the night before his death.