NARRATOR: In March of
Jr. traveled to
Memphis, Tennessee
to lead a group of
striking sanitation workers
in peaceful protest.
He traveled to the city amid
threats against his life, which
had escalated as
his message grew
from seeking racial equality to
also seeking economic equality.
The threats against
his life were real.
Martin Luther King,
Jr. Was assassinated
in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
The night before
his death, Dr. King
gave a speech at the
Mason Temple in Memphis
to promote the plight
of the striking workers.
In it he discussed a
previous attempt on his life
in 1958, when a mentally ill
woman stabbed him with a letter
opener in a Harlem bookstore.
The blade was so close
to a major artery
that the "New York Times"
reported, "If King had sneezed,
he would have died."
He used that speech to reflect
on how happy he was that he had
not sneezed, highlighting
the great achievements
he had witnessed.
In 1960, students stood up by
sitting in at lunch counters
all over the south.
In 1961, groups of black
and white Americans
rode buses for
freedom and an end
to segregation in
interstate travel.
In 1963, black people
in Birmingham, Alabama
aroused the conscience
of the nation
and brought into being
the civil rights bill.
He also spoke of the
personal accomplishments
he had made since the
assassination attempt.
If Martin Luther King, Jr.
had sneezed back in 1958,
he wouldn't have been able to
tell America about a dream he
once had, or gone
to Selma, Alabama
to see a great movement
there, or been in Memphis
to see a community rally
around his brothers and sisters
who were suffering.
On the eve of his death,
Martin Luther King
declared that he
had no fear, that he
had seen the promised
land and that one
day the world would reach it.
So I'm happy tonight.
I'm not worried about anything.
I'm not fearing any man.
Mine eyes have seen the
glory of the promised land.
[cheering]
NARRATOR: He was
killed the next day.
Shot in the neck while
standing on the balcony
of his second floor room at
the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
He was rushed to the hospital,
and died within the hour.
The ensuing manhunt
for King's killer
lasted for just
over three months,
ending with the capture
of James Earl Ray
at Heathrow Airport on June 8.
The outpouring of
grief for King's death
was immediate and overwhelming.
His assassination shook
people from all walks of life,
white, black, rich, poor.
His loss was felt
across the nation.
Robert F. Kennedy, campaigning
for the Democratic nomination
for president, informed
supporters at a rally
that King had died, remarking,
"We can make an effort,
as Martin Luther King did, to
understand and to comprehend,
and to replace that violence,
that stain of bloodshed that
has spread across our land,
with an effort to understand
with compassion and love."
Kennedy was killed
two months later.
Some argue the civil rights
movement never fully recovered
after Dr. King's assassination.
But most agree his
message of nonviolence
forever altered protest
movements in this country.
His life continues to inspire
generations of Americans,
showing that those
united in peace
can be the greatest adversary
to conflict and injustice
around the world.
[music playing]
