How to Honor Martin Luther King by Visiting the National Civil RIghts Museum

Stop in at this, the site of King’s death, to vividly remember not only the day he died but why he was killed--because of the life he lived dedicated to the cause of equal rights for all citizens. Relive those exciting and sometimes dreadful days of the 1960s when so many momentous events took place.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Go to the National Civil Rights Museum, which is at the site where King was killed. Part of the Lorraine Motel where he was shot stands as a memorial. Some of it looks as it did that day and another building has been added. The sign is still up. From the outside, it looks like part of it could still be a motel. The website (listed below) gives time and all necessary details.
2. Continue through the exhibit which has quite a bit about the Free Speech Movement and actions on the Berkeley Campus and in San Francisco. Those tumultuous days and all the deaths and protests in the south, fighting for the right to sit on the bus (not at the back), vote, eat at a lunch counter, go to segregated schools, all that history is there, plus more, back to the 1600s. It’s more than a little melancholy here. I was fortunate enough to be there on the 37th anniversary of his death. Television cameras were present and officials were being interviewed.
3. On the day I was there, a group of citizens were launching “B-A-M-M” which “stands for Bust-A-Move Monday, an initiative to bolster black-owned businesses that began in the Memphis Community and has spread to Arkansas and Mississippi.” The first Monday of each month, a black-owned business will be picked and the supporting groups will spend money and encourage their members to spend money in that business on that day. As the speakers explain, it is a promotion of blacks spending their money with black-owned businesses. Apparently, 64 percent of Memphis is black, but a very small percentage of the businesses are black-owned. A representative from the National Urban League speaks, some elected officials, some other community leaders, and a congresswoman.
4. Appreciate that people are still struggling for equality. Take some reflective moments to consider the long history of the civil rights struggle. On July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Pay your respects to Martin Luther King and all who have given their life in this fight.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also visit Graceland while in Memphis.