NEW YORK – Civil rights leaders and members of Martin Luther King Jr’s family are reflecting on his legacy, 50 years after the iconic activist and speaker was assassinated.
4 April 1968 in American history will forever be remembered when an escaped convict went to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee, shot King Jr and killed him after he fired a single rifle shot from a room across the street.
Newly elected President Robert F Kennedy in 1968, the brother of an assassinated president John F Kennedy, who would himself be killed two months later, announced King Jr’s death on April 4 1968.
Events are still being held across the US to commemorate the civil rights leader, with a rally taking place in Washington under the banner “Ending Racism”.
King Jr’s legacy is questioned today and the impact it should have on a country still grappling with issues of racial violence and inequality.
King Jr made th infamous ‘ I have a Dream Speech’ speaking of inequality, discrimination, racism in America during the Civil Rights Movement. Many have continuously made reference to that speech to the struggles America still faces today, with the Black Lives Movement and anti gun movement fighting injustices of today.
Photo Credit- EWN
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