April 4 marks two significant moments in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one involving a stand for peace and the other marking his tragic death exactly one year later.
On April 4, 1967, Dr. King delivered one of his most controversial and powerful speeches, “Beyond Vietnam,” at Riverside Church in New York City in front of 3,000 people.
Dr. King argued that the war was draining resources that were desperately needed to help the poor at home. He pointed out the painful irony of young Black men fighting and dying for a country that still denied them basic rights and freedoms. Despite facing heavy criticism from the media and even some of his allies, he insisted that his conscience left him no choice but to speak the truth about the conflict.
He said, “The war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home…We were taking the Black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem.”
One year to the day after that speech, on April 4, 1968, the nation was shocked by the news of Dr. King’s assassination. He was in Memphis, Tennessee, to support a strike by Black sanitation workers who were protesting for better wages and safer working conditions.
While standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel, Dr. King was hit by a sniper’s bullet fired from a nearby house. He was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital but was pronounced dead at 7:05 PM, an hour after the attack. He was only 39 years old.
James Earl Ray was identified as the shooter. Ray was captured in London and eventually pleaded guilty to the murder, receiving a 99-year prison sentence.
The news of his death caused a wave of grief and anger across the country. Riots broke out in more than 100 cities, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Baltimore.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began by fighting for racial equality and ended his life fighting against poverty and international violence.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a U.S. federal holiday, on the third Monday in January, honoring the civil rights leader’s birthday and his fight for peace and equality. Signed into law by President Reagan in 1983 after a 15-year campaign, which was first observed in 1986, just days after Dr. King’s assassination, and fully recognized by all 50 states by 2000.
Ask us! What questions do you have about content, strategy, pop culture, lifestyle, wellness, history or more? We may use your question in an upcoming article!
Like MediaFeed’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
AlertMe
