FROM A SITE OF TRAGEDY TO HOPE!

Architects have done splendid work to incorporate the old Lorraine Motel as a component of a modern National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. When I passed through Memphis in 2003, the hotel had a chain link fence around it, and its future was in doubt. Many of you worldwide will recall this former motel as the scene of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fortunately, funds were raised for constructing the new Museum. Thus, a site of a staggering tragedy has been transformed into a Museum of Hope! I find this poignant--that a site where darkness once lurked is now a beacon of light. Dr. King stepped out of his room onto the second floor balcony (where the wreath is placed). As he stood, James Earl Ray assassinated Dr. King with a rifle from a rooming house across the street. The white Cadillac automobile pictured above was to have taken Dr. King and his entourage that night to a rally to support City Sanitation Workers who staged a strike for better working conditions.

Above: The Rev. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III were joined by his wife, Arndrea. Bernice and Martin recently lost their sister the late Yolanda Denise King. The three placed a wreath at the tomb where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King are buried. Afterward, Bernice King addressed approximately 2,000 students at the nearby Ebenezer Baptist Church - where her father preached from 1960 until his death - and urged them to continue her father's cause. I visited this memorial site 2 years ago and listened to recordings of Dr. Kings sermons inside the gift shop--which are incredible and very inspiring!